The Goddess and the Sky
by WillZ
Summary: What would happen if the wrong call was placed at the right time? Sora Hasegawa is about to be given the chance to make just. One. Wish... ...And screw it all up. Chapter 21 is FINALLY up.
1. High Tea

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter One

High Tea

Sora Haswegawa sighed heavily as she looked in the mirror at her uneven hair. She had tried her hardest to trim it herself to save on much-needed cash, but, for all her efforts, she had failed miserably. She usually had a no-nonsense trim, regardless of what the hairstylist tried to con her into. She wasn't a high-maintenance person, and preferred her life this way, especially with college sucking most of her time up like a vacuum.

She put the scissors down, and readjusted her glasses by tilting them slightly. Who would notice with such a subtle change? She sighed again, knowing that this move had bought her a very tiny amount of time before someone noticed.

In a flash of insight, an idea came to her: What if she asked Tamiya or Otaki for the cash needed for a cut, but didn't tell them what it was for? The thought of the interest they would garnish from her made her shiver.

With those two, there wasn't any honor, even though they bordered on the realm of thieves.

Sora stared at her hair, slightly mussing and straightening it out in turns, debating whether or not it was worth it to try another pass with the scissors. The worst case, she'd be bald for a couple months, the best, she only had to show a bit more of her forehead than she usually did.

Should she use her hair band to hold back her bangs? What if she used hairpins for a while? It might be worth the little extra effort…

Sora tossed that idea away, as well. Her freckles would be more pronounced if she changed her hair. She was a mess, and it frustrated her that there wasn't any magical formula to change it. It was like hoping that Aoshima would suddenly put down his philandering ways and devote himself entirely to a person he barely knew.

But that was the point of a wish, wasn't it? She decided to have another try at cutting her bangs herself.

--

Keiichi Morisato sat in his dorm room, reading one of the magazines he had been collecting to go to the trash. Nothing of interest was happening so far, but you could never tell when an interesting article would appear. He perused a few more pages before deciding that nothing good was in this issue of "Motor Monthly" and packed it in with the others.

At that minute, his stomach growled. Time had zipped past rather quickly as he did his chores, so he opted to get himself some takeout as a reward. His stomach growled in agreement. After bringing the burnables to the proper dropoff location near the dormitory, he saw that he had plenty of time to wait for the call that Tamaki Senpai was waiting for. Once that was done, he could eat. In his mind, he thought of what he would order, how long it would take to get there, and how much of it he was going to eat. His mouth drooled at the thought of a cutlet ramen special.

The phone rang. This was it! The call for Tamaki! After this, it was bliss in the form of a bowl of noodles, soup stock and meat!

"Hello?" He said, answering the phone. "Yes, Okay, Yes. I'll tell him. Thank you. Goodbye."

YES! The call had come! He finished scribbling the note on the memo pad, put it somewhere conspicuous so it wouldn't get lost, and grabbed the phone book. He flipped through the worn pages to the restaurants, scanned it quickly for the right number…

…And promptly dropped the receiver onto the floor.

He didn't know it, but such a small event was enough to change his fortune.

--

Across the campus, Sora picked up the phone. She had made a right mess of her hair – enough so that she caved in and decided to call Otaki and Tamiya for help. She picked up the phone and started to dial, not really paying attention as she fumbled the number.

"Hello," Said a woman's voice on the other end. Didn't the men's dorm have a "no women allowed" clause?

"Hello," Sora replied, "I-"

"Welcome to the Goddess Helpline," the voice interrupted , "Someone will be there momentarily to assist you.

The phone disconnected on the other end. Was this one of Tamiya's sick jokes? She was going to give those idiots a piece of her mind!

She was picking up the phone to start calling, when a flashing light in front of her made her look up. Her mirror was glowing! She dropped the phone back onto the receiver and jumped to her feet. What was she to do?

The instant she thought that, a hand popped out of the mirror. Was this part of her Senpai's trick? She looked behind the mirror and saw that there was a thin gap between the mirror and the wall. What the hell was happening?

"What's happening?" she said, voicing her thoughts aloud, "This isn't really happening, is it?" She said this last part a few more times as the hand slowly progressed into the rest of a human.

A female.

Wearing a blue, ornate dress.

And she was gorgeous, to boot. Sora didn't know if she should feel jealous or scared. In the end curiosity usurped both emotions and, as her visitor's final limb separated from the mirror, she was intrigued as to why she suddenly had a new arrival.

_Oh, yeah,_ a part of her mind thought absently_, the phone call_. She unknowingly ignored this and simply stared at the new addition to her room.

"Good afternoon!" the woman said cheerfully, her blue eyes enhancing a smile Sora could only describe as "enchanting".

Sora waved her hand stupidly.

"Miss Sora Hasegawa? I am the First Class Goddess Belldandy. I'll be your granter today."

Granter? Sora blinked. The only time the word "grant" came up was in regards to theses and other projects appointed by the school. Was this person here to give her money? If so, didn't she realize that Sora had never even proposed a grant in her life?

Belldandy, smiled and tilted her head. Sora was mesmerized by the few wisps of light-brown antenna-like hair bobbing in the same direction.

"I am not here to grant you money, per se," Belldandy responded, "rather, I am here to grant you a wish."

Sora gave Belldandy a skeptical look.

"You have only one wish – you cannot wish for more." Continued Belldandy, almost as if she were reading from a script.

_A wish. _Thought Sora. _A wish for anything I wanted._

"Yes," replied the goddess, "a wish. You could ask for money, or power, or to initiate the end of the world. However, the people we usually grant wishes to are those kind souls in need of help, so, if you had those kinds of thoughts, you wouldn't have been given this chance."

"A wish?" replied Sora, the information still not sinking in.

"Yes!" smiled Belldandy. To Sora, the goddess had an earnest smile and, if this had been some prank by Tamiya or Otaki, she didn't think those two would have the cash flow to hire a good enough actress for this, and she knew everyone in the drama club, so they would have outsourced, which would have cost more.

It hit he like a ton of bricks. She had seen real magic performed, and this was really on the up-and-up.

"Indeed it is," said Belldandy, "Have you thought about what you wish for?"

Power. Money. Love. These were all possibilities that opened a new world for Sora.

"I think," Sora gulped, falling onto her sofa, "I think that I am going to have to think this over for a bit."

"Wonderful!" the goddess replied, clasping her hands together, "I'll make some tea!"

Before she could protest, the blue-clad woman had gone to the kitchen to start the tea.

--

"Morisato!" Thundered Tamiya as he slammed open the door, the rest of his dorm mates following behind. He acted as if he half-expected to catch Keiichi canoodling with a girl in the dorm.

"Any messages for me?" Tamiya asked after scanning the place and seeing all was well.

"Y-Yes," Keiichi answered, gulping to give his heart a chance to recuperate after the sudden entrance. He handed the note to Tamiya.

"Good, good". Tamiya then handed the note to Otaki, who flashed a quick thumbs up, and a grin like the Cheshire Cat. He knew that whatever it was they were planning, it wasn't going to be good for him. He decided to make a hasty retreat while everyone else was talking about what had been written on the note.

He went out to take a walk and clear his thoughts, and maybe have a cigarette or two. He grabbed his motorcycle jacket and exited the building.

Keiichi went over to his motorbike and sighed. He would have loved to go for a drive, maybe up to the coast to watch the waves for a bit, but without the expensive parts the Beemer needed, it was going to be a long while before he was that mobile again.

"Hey, Morisato!" Tamiya called from the second floor window, "I fixed your bike for ya!" Tamiya tossed him some keys – some new keys – and continued, "The lock system was completely dead, and we gave it a tuneup! Have fun!"

"Th-thanks," Keiichi stammered. Sometimes, the guys in his dorm could really pull out the stops to help one another. He made a note to do something for them when the time came.

As long as it was legal, that is.

--

Sora wasn't an easily-excitable person, nor was she "flighty" like some of the other girls in her class. This whole situation though, made her feel like a nervous wreck. She unconsciously wrung her hands a few times, paced, twirled her now mismatched bangs with her fingers, and started the process all over again while she awaited her guest and the tea.

And that was part of what surprised her the most. Her guest had gone and offered to make tea before Sora could attend her needs, regardless of the Goddess's business. Sora wasn't traditional, but that didn't mean she had to be impolite, either.

The whole thing was out of her hands anyway. She couldn't' go back in time to fix it, no matter what she did.

This train of thought brought the crux of her predicament to the forefront again. What was she going to do? She only had one chance to change her life for the better.

This was the main sore point. She only got one chance at it. No regrets. No takebacks. No standbys. No safety net of any kind whatsoever.

What was she to do? How was she to know what was best, or even right to ask for in this kind of situation? She felt dizzy, and her stomach was making queasy sounds. Was she going to have to flee to the bathroom? That was just too embarrassing to think about, given the rest of the predicament she was in.

After what seemed an eternity, the Goddess returned, carrying a tray with her fine tea set, some sugar, spoons and, to Sora's mild surprise, some sandwiches. Sora tried to remember what she had in her fridge, and shivered; most of it had been old, wilted or moldy.

"Have some," Belldandy offered, smiling that big, warm smile.

"I-I'm fine," Sora replied. It was then that her stomach made another embarrassing sound. Belldandy giggled softly as Sora's freckled face heated up in what she knew was her typical blush.

"Don't worry." Said Belldandy, still giggling a bit from the sound, making Sora flush more "What is here is safe to eat. It just needed a little 'encouraging.'"

"Encouraging?" She feared that this was going to end with her in the toilet in one way or the other. It was probably a lot better than some of the disasters that she had created. She politely took a saucer, then the cup Belldandy filled with hot, reddish tea, and placed them on her lap. She put two sugars in the cup and mixed slowly before getting up the courage to take a cucumber sandwich.

Barring the possible food poisoning, Sora felt as if she were at a high tea like in the novels she loved to read. She took a tentative bite…

…Then another, and another, savoring the exquisite blends of flavors dancing across her tongue.

It was simply marvelous! She could almost feel tears welling up in her eyes from the perfect harmony. To cleanse the taste and give her a chance to recuperate, she opted to have a sip of the tea.

To say it was almost like drinking a cup of liquid heaven would not be an understatement. Sora stared at the cup in amazement.

How? Sora wanted to ask, but was too occupied trying to etch this wonderful cascade of taste burned in her memory.

"It's my own special blend," Belldandy replied, looking a bit sheepish, "You didn't' have any earl grey, so I took a few pouches of the types you had, separated them and put in the appropriate seasonings. I apologize for wasting the remainder, however."

Sora blinked. Was this actually possible to do? She separated the contents by ingredient?! How?! She stifled another tear as she savored more of this "liquid heaven".

She looked over to Belldandy, who was quietly huming as she added a hint of sugar to her own cup, stirring in time with the melody. Even her humming was bliss! She envied this woman's looks and skills.

"It's wonderful," Sora finally spoke. Belldandy blinked, surprised that the girl had finally spoken.

"Thank you!" Belldandy smiled, "For a moment, I was afraid you wouldn't like it."

_You'd have to be insane, dead, or deprived of your senses not to love this stuff._ Sora thought to herself.

"Thank you!" Belldandy repeated, her smile growing warmer. Unconsiously, Sora began smiling as well.

"Um," Sora said after a few moments, her nervousness returning, though not as bad as before, "May I ask a few questions?"

"Please do," Belldandy answered, placing her cup on her saucer. Sora once more unconsciously mimicked the action.

"First," Sora began, her finger unconsciously tracing her finger along the inside and outside of the cup's handle, "How didyou know my name?"

"Simple: We have 'Caller ID' at our office in Heaven."

"But I am not the one that owns this line. The landlord does." She pointed to the green pay box she had used to make the call to the Goddess Helpline.

"The system doesn't use conventional methods. It is based off psychic energy, resonance, and attachment to Yggdrasil, the life tree and database that is the foundation of what we do."

Yggdrasil? Life Tree? Database? While the terms sounded familiar, they definitely were not anything the mousy-haired girl thought went together. Maybe it was like how some people named their cars or computers? She decided to press on with her other questions instead of following this segue.

"Okay," Sora sighed, "Next: How did you get in here?"

"The mirror!" Belldandy replied, still smiling. "You saw me! Hi!" The goddess waved at Sora, who barely refrained from returning the gesture.

" I know you came through the mirror, but HOW did you do it, exactly?"

"We goddesses have the ability to use a medium that we are attuned to travel through. For me, it is reflective surfaces of the type you have with mirrors." In an odd way, it did make sense.

"So, why only one wish?"

"There had been some rather 'unpleasant' repercussions from some people that had abused the rules." Once again it did make some sense to Sora.

So, why did these questions make it even harder to make her choice? She looked at her cup, picked it up and took another, longer drink.

--

Keiichi had decided to walk around instead of taking off on his Beemer. With his luck, he decided to walk instead of putting the Beemer at risk of an accident just for a quick nighttime jaunt . When he had started it up, it had a nice, smooth rhythm, and some of the roughness that used to cough out of the exhaust in puffs of black smoke had been completely smoothed out. It ran as smoothly as if it had just left the plant.

He reached in his pocket, and pulled out a cigarette, placing it in his mouth. He reached in his pocket for his lighter, but decided against it. He really should quit: It was an expensive, dangerous habit, and it seemed that Sayoko didn't like smokers in the least. He also disliked how his teeth were starting to stain as well. He wasn't a neatnick, but he did want to keep what little that was presentable intact. Keiichi sighed, pulled the tobacco from his lips, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Sayoko," he sighed, feeling his hand twitch in his pocket towards the unlit paper and tobacco trap. He balled his hand in a fist to resist the urge, but it was hard.

He returned his thoughts to Sayoko. She was the school's Queen through and through. Her looks were amazing, her grades were top-tier, and she was rich, but this wasn't what drove his thoughts to her.

He had seen her several times on campus, smiling and laughing with her friends. Something about the warmth of it made him smile. He was a sucker for a good smile, and hers had been one of the best he had ever seen.

It wouldn't be far-off target to say that it had been love at first sight: Seconds after seeing her for the first time, she had smiled, and his heart was hers. It was foolish, but he held the hope that, if he could get her attention, maybe she'd go out with him even though he was almost a full head and a half shorter than she was.

He was extremely self-conscious about his height, but that wasn't the only thing that bothered him. His looks were incredibly plain, and his hair, even when short, had a mind of its own. More often than not, his hair looked like he fell out of bed. He had resigned himself to the fact that his hair hated him more than his growth gland.

He blinked. While in his reverie, his hand had grabbed the cigarette, put it in his mouth, and was now fishing for the lighter. He frowned and tossed his butts and lighter into a nearby trash can before walking off. He'd probably regret it later, but he had really decided that, in order to get Sayoko's attention, he'd have to change. Not a lot, mind, but enough to at least make her see that he wasn't some idiot with greased-back hair in a purple-and-green striped suit.

He had to make the effort. He didn't want to become a pathetic, spineless loser.

Keiichi stopped at a store, and grabbed a pack of gum, to resist the urge to smoke. Chewing absently, he made his way through the green areas of the campus, taking in the soft glow of the lights, the hint of the tree branches dancing in the gentle breeze, and the few stars that peeked through the clouds.

He was nearing the other end of campus now. Somewhere close by was Sayoko's apartment, or at least he thought it was. He shook himself. He didn't want to seem like some creepy stalker. He had only seen her unique, expensive Mercedes in this area and had drawn a conclusion. Still, he kept is eye out for the car, wishing that, one day, he'd be able to get behind the wheel for even a block or two.

Keiichi debated which way he was going to return home. Should he just backtrack, or should he complete the complete route around the campus. Deciding he needed the exercise, he opted to take the long way back to the dorms.

--

Sora finished the tea, and Belldandy promptly refilled the glass, placing two sugar cubes into the cup. The goddess had answered more of her questions, even the ones regarding what Yggdrasil was. She stared at the cup while slowly turning the spoon in circles through the reddish liquid.

What else could she say? The whole thing was amazing in ways she could barely comprehend! Belldandy hadn't held anything back, either. She knew the goddess wasn't lying, either – the way the wish worked, the efficiency with which the wishes were dispatched were too organized and methodical to be made upon the spot.

It was also boosted by the fact that Belldandy so far had been the most honest and open person she had ever met in her life.

She finally stopped stirring the tea, and took another drink. It was really odd, but the more she had of it, the more she enjoyed it. She should have been getting sick of it by her third cup, but this fourth was already making her want more.

She had to stop, or she was going to burst.

"I don't think I can drink another drop," she said, "I want to, but I'd probably burst. It was really good tea."

Belldandy bowed, and promptly began cleaning up the remains.

"I'll do that!" Sora offered, but Belldandy merely shook her head.

"Please allow me! It's more important that you choose what your wish should be!" The goddess shooed Sora back to her seat, making her feel like a little kid told to behave for some reason.

Sora thougth about it. Belldandy was incredibly attractive.

She was an amazing cook.

She also could do things with tea that would make a tea shop owner weep and retire on the spot.

She had an amazing smile.

She also was incredibly honest and likeable.

Belldandy put the tray with the remains of Tea on the counter. She began humming a quiet, beautiful tune as she wiped the table and counter with a washcloth.

She can sing beautifully too, Sora was confident enough to put money on that.

"I wish you'd marry me," Sora whispered kiddingly, thinking back to how all the anime she had ever seen, one girl would always say that as a compliment to another's prowess in the kitchen.

Wait. Did she just…

Suddenly, Belldandy blinked looked over at Sora with a startled gaze.

Belldandy's power sigil glowed a soft blue.

Oh. No.

No no no no no no.

She didn't.

But Sora had. She had done something incredibly, totally stupid.

--

Keiichi was getting a can of cola from a vending machine, when he heard a sound that could almost be called "ethereal." He looked around, curious as to what could make such a noise, when he caught a flicker of blue light emanating from a window in what he believed to be the Girls' Dormitory.

Curious, he approached the building. What could it be? Was it someone's thesis? A broken television? Maybe it was one of those home projection televisions that everyone in the Electronics department had been gossiping about.

It became apparent that none of these were the case; the roof had a pinhole punched through it by the bright blue beam. With each step forward, the beam got wider and brighter. His walk became a trot, then a run as he realized that the person living in that particular dorm was Hasegawa, the only girl in Nekomi Institute's Auto Club.

"Shit," He gasped as he ran. His lungs were on fire, and his feet were lead, but he kept on, hoping that the girl inside was okay.

He reached the landing in time to see the beam slowly dwindle in size before disappearing with an odd "gwink" sound. He blinked as his night vision readjusted, and made his way over to his Junior's door.

"Haswgawa?" Keiichi asked after politely knocking on the door, "Are you okay Hasegawa?"

No answer was forthcoming. He knocked again, but harder. He raised his voice as well.

"Hasagawa? Are you in there? Please answer."

He heard scurrying behind the door, followed by the sound of the deadbolt, the safety catch and the safety chain being undone.

Hasegawa opened the door, looking spooked. Her hair was a mess, and her eyewear sat too crookedly on her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked?

"Ah. Keiichi," She said, idly straightening her glasses and talking with a calm that definitely didn't touch her face. "Yes, everything's fine."

"Are you sure? I saw this light…"

"Oh, that? It was one of those pen lights my… Cousin gave me. Yeah. He um.." She sighed and became quiet. Suddenly, her lip trembled and the tears rolled down her face in a small torrent."

"Oh, Keiichi!" She exclaimed, opening the door, throwing herself at him while sobbing harder, "What am I going to do? I have no idea what I should do!"

He was speechless. He had no idea what she was going on about. He held her a moment in a friendly hug, patting her reassuringly.

"It's okay," he said, trying to get her to calm down, "It'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

"It's not okay," she said, pushing her face into his shirt, "It's never going to be okay! My life is ruined!"

He was going to ask her why, but before he could speak, the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen peeked out from the doorframe. She had light brown hair, soft blue eyes and the most wonderful, warmest smile he had ever seen in his life. Even Sayoko's smile was faint in contrast to the brightness of this woman's.

"Good evening," The woman said, "My name is Belldandy, Goddess First Class, Limited, and Sora-chan's wife."

Wait. Wife? Did she just say she was Sora's wife?!?

"Yes!" replied Belldandy her smile growing, "We're newlyweds!"


	2. Gum in the Ceiling

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 2

Gum in the Ceiling

Keiichi blinked, unsure what he should do in a situation like this. Sure, he had comforted crying girls. He had hugged girls at their weddings, but this was a first. He had never, EVER had to comfort someone because they had gotten married.

"Um," He said uneasily, still patting the crying girl in his arms, "Congratulations?"

Okay. She's crying harder now. I don't think that was the thing to say. He tried to form the words to give the mousy-haired girl some assurance, but he was at a loss.

He had to make sense of what had happened.

First, there was a light piercing the roof.

Then running.

Then crying.

Nope. Still no sense. He desperately needed a butt, or a beer.

Maybe a lot of beer. His shirt was soaked and he had one crying and one smiling girl to deal with. It was almost like he was in some sick, twisted manga, but shouldn't the person in his arms be smiling and the other girl crying? No – that was for love triangles. He had absolutely no blessed idea what he should do!

He decided to try another approach. Maybe the blue-clad woman... Berry-something provide some insight?

"Hi," He said turning to her "I'm Keiichi Morisato."  
"Hello!" the other girl waved at him as she spoke. Unknowingly, he mimicked the action, "I'm Belldandy!"

Belldandy! Thank goodness she reintroduced herself! It was almost as if she could read his mind! He decided to find out exactly what happened.

"So," He began, trying to decide how to take the conversation, "You're married. To Sora."

"Yes!" the girl replied. Sora seemed to be too absorbed in crying, to contribute.

"Well, then," Keiichi said, feeling like a fool for not articulating what he wanted to say properly, "Can you… Um… Tell.." He couldn't quite grasp what he wanted to say.

Belldandy seemed to understand, and motioned for him to come inside.

Which he found to be a lot more difficult with a distraught girl clamped to you.

He finally dislodged Hasegawa from his person, and gently directed her inside. She seemed so small and fragile as she sniffled her way to the sofa, yet he didn't know what he could do to help her. He turned to look at Belldandy, to see her smile become a look of concern the minute she locked the door. She darted over to Sora, putting a hand on her shoulder, wiping the tears away with a soft caress and softly spoken words that only the other woman could hear.

"Now," Keiichi began, "Would you please tell me what's going on?"

Belldandy hesitated, torn between explaining everything to Keiichi and tending to Hasegawa. She looked over at Sora, who nodded weakly, still wiping the tears from her eyes. Keiichi waited for Belldandy to compose herself again before she began.

--

Sora sniffled and wadded up some tissues to dab into her eyes. She exhaled a shuddering breath, and somehow managed to get the crying under control. She disliked being a crybaby, yet who would blame her? Her life was ruined, and she didn't' even know if it was even legal for such a marriage in the first place! Maybe if it isn't legal, then there is nothing preventing them from nullifying the wish.

Heartened, she began regaining her composure. Maybe after Keiichi and Belldandy finished talking, she could ask Morisato if he would be able to help them clear this whole mess up, and then, she could pursue Aoshima without problems. She held onto that hope like a lifeline.

As Keiichi listened to the story from Belldandy, Sora decided that she was going to go get a drink from the refrigerator. She felt drained from all the crying, and her throat felt rough; she could feel the tickle of a cough coming on.

Sora got up from the sofa, and wound her way around the coffee table. She was almost past it, when she felt her leg slip out from under her, sending her towards the distracted Goddess. She tried to dodge, but something… pushed her towards Belldandy, causing the two women to collapse in a pile of body parts. She opened her eyes, and was startled to see Belldandy's face barely an inch from contact.

Contact at the lips, no less. She got up and scampered to the kitchen, her face feeling hotter than a furnace.

--

Keiichi blinked. Had Sora almost jumped Belldandy in plain sight? He blinked again, looking over at Belldandy, who was blushing furiously, her righthand barely an inch from her lips.

The same distance, Keiichi noted, that Sora's lips had been from hers.

"A-Anyway," He said, "The tea?"

Belldandy seemed to bring herself back to reality, blinked then offered him some tissues form the dining room table. As he wiped his nose, the Goddess spoke, telling him some of the most amazing things he had ever heard, as if it had come from a manga.

"And that is when you must have seen the light penetrating the ceiling," Belldandy finished. Keiichi nodded realizing that, if he had needed real irrefutable proof that what happened was the truth, he had seen it with his own eyes. No illusion could glow that brightly. He wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a story about this in the morning's paper.

But that wasn't the point right now. The problem was Sora, and making sure that his friend and the Goddess… AAAH! He couldn't think straight! He needed to help, but how?

Keiichi feared that it was going to be a very long night.

--

Sora finished washing her face in the sink, looking at her reflection in the little mirror she always kept close by, especially after one of her cooking disasters almost singed her eyebrows off. Her eyes were less puffy, but her cheeks were still red from both the crying and the embarrassing incident in the living room. She tried to gain her composure, but couldn't; too many things had happened too quickly, and it was still too soon after events for her to even think of how to deal with the situation.

She was at a loss as to what to do next. What was she going to do about her feelings for Aoshima through all this? Her lip trembled, and she could feel the tears building again, so she thought happier thoughts. The tea was marvelous, and she needed to get the recipe from Belldandy, or, more likely bribe the Goddess into making some for her.

The thought of tea really did work. Who would have thought that tea could solve any emotional problem? She almost giggled nervously at the thought.

Sora grabbed a cup from the drying rack and opened the fridge to get the container of water. She reached in to grab the container, but her hand fell back to her side. She sighed, closed her eyes and bowed her head. What was she going to tell her friends? What about her family? She sighed again and closed the door, feeling as depressed as she had been earlier.

She slumped into the chair that was part of the kitchenette set, and rested her head on the table. She felt like she wanted to crawl under the table curl up and never come out, even if the place was an inferno. She covered her head wither arms. What else could she do? She couldn't even get her wish right!

She decided to give up on the drink, making her way numbly to the living room. This time, she made sure that she wouldn't do something stupid by taking the seat closest to the kitchen, sitting there quietly with her hands folded on her lap.

Her entrance hadn't gone unnoticed: Both Belldandy and Keiichi looked over to her. Belldandy smiled wanly and waved her over.

Reluctantly, she complied. She took the seat next to Keiichi, who scratched the back of his head and frowned slightly.

"You know," he said, blushing a little bit as he spoke, his hand still scratching the back of his head, "You should be happy it's her. If I were in a similar predicament, I would be glad it's someone so nice as she is. She worried about your well-being throughout her whole explanation."

"She did?" Sora asked. Keiichi nodded.

"Yeah." He answered, using the words to emphasize the nod, "I had to stop her twice from going to see if you were okay."

Sora blushed, dumbfounded over the revelation. Why would a complete stranger care about someone she just met? This was completely new territory for her and, she could bet Keiichi was out of his element, as well.

Not that Keiichi was a playboy, but because of his demeanor, every girl that had ever had the Auto Club's help would always ask her to pass on their thanks to him. Every time, he'd just smile, scratch his head in embarrassment, and think of it only as if he were doing his best for the club. She wondered how many girls he had unknowingly passed up as girlfriends, if he had only been confident enough to ask Sora for a name and not so fixated on Sayoko.

Not that she was one to talk. Her fixation with Aoshima was the same, to her chagrin. She shook herself out of her funk to try to listen to Keiichi, who was talking to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, smiling weakly, "Could you say that again?"

Keiichi merely nodded before retelling his idea.

"I think we need to come up with a cover for Belldandy," He said, watching Belldandy go to the kitchen to get something for them all to drink.

Sora nodded her agreement. Keiichi continued.

"The biggest problem is that we're going to have to keep her powers secret. Heaven knows what would happen if the wrong person got hold of her powers."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. The last thing she needed was for the Goddess to be taken away by the "Men in Black" before a resolution was found.

"We might want to keep your relationship a secret, too," Keiichi surmised. Sora was about to agree, when she turned to see Belldandy standing near her phone.

"Hi, Neesan!" Belldandy said in a cheerful voice, "Guess what?"

She didn't get further than that: Both Keiichi and Sora had raced over to stop the call. She grabbed the phone away from the girl the very moment Keiichi put his hand over Belldandy's mouth.

"Sorry," Sora said, after grabbing the phone from Belldandy, "She's a little preoccupied at the moment. No, everything's fine, we just need her for her turn at... um... Twister! Yeah! I'll make sure she calls when she's done. Bye." She hung up the phone, letting out a sigh as she put the receiver back on its base.

"That was close," Keiichi said, releasing Belldandy's mouth. The goddess looked equal parts annoyed and confused.

"Way too close," Sora agreed. She didn't know what Belldandy's family would say, but she was certain that she didn't want the wrath of the Almighty on her in any way shape or form. She tried to take her arm away from Belldandy, but it wouldn't move. Sora looked in surprise at her hand, which now had a firm grip on the loose part of Belldandy's dress.

"Um. Help?" She said to both Keiichi and Belldandy. Was this day going to get any less stranger?

After a few moments of tugging and coercion, they finally managed to free Belldandy. Sora's hand ached from the cramp, but it dulled as Belldandy massaged it for her. The tension in her slowly began to unravel.

"Are you okay, Dear?" Belldandy asked once life began going back into her hand. Sora blinked and looked at the goddess warily.

"What?" Sora asked.

"I asked if you were okay," Belldandy repeated, still tending the hand, but the touch seemed more… Tender than it did a moment ago.

Sora snapped her hand back reflexively. "Yes! I'm fine!" She could feel her face go flush and she couldn't look at Belldandy.

The silence held, until Keiichi cleared his throat nervously.

"So as I was saying," he said, averting his gaze from Sora and Belldandy, "I think we need to keep this whole thing under wraps to prevent any problems."

Belldandy blinked. The look on Belldandy's face, and the way she stood silently made Sora feel like she had kicked a puppy. It wasn't helping that Belldandy very likely didn't seem to understand the predicament she had been placed in. Sora wanted to sigh, but refrained from doing so.

"I'll talk to her," She offered. Keiichi nodded, and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'll see what I can do about that hole for you, then."

Sora was grateful to Morisato for his help. Once again, her senpai came through in a pinch. She was going to have to do something nice for him, for all his hard work.

"Thanks," she said, bowing slightly and turning to the Goddess. Sora motioned Belldandy over to the kitchen to get out of the way of Keiichi's construction efforts. After they both had seated themselves at the table, Sora explained Keiichi's suggestion to the taller girl in better detail.

--

Keiichi got to work on inspecting the surprisingly small hole in the ceiling by standing on a chair. It was barely the size of a 100-yen coin, so all he would have to do is use a trick his senpais had used several times before: gum and toothpaste.

Fortunately, the maintenance guys here used uneven stucco patterning for the girl's dorms to give them a "livelier" look from the ones the boys lived in. This meant he didn't have to make it perfectly smooth to conceal it, though the fact that the girls got a bigger living area, their own bathroom with shower, and a kitchen made him a little jealous. He had to share those accoutrements with the rest of his dorm.

As the two women talked, Keiichi took the pack of gum out of his pants pocket and chewed a couple pieces at once until they lost most of their flavor. He also checked the hole for rough spots, finding just enough of them to give the gum a place to adhere to in the wall. He then took two more pieces of gum and added them to his mouth, chewing the whole thing slowly until the two were mixed. He popped the pale gum out of his mouth, rolled it into a ball, flattened it with his fingers, and finally pressed the whole thing into the opening. He carefully smoothed what he could out and checked it for signs of drooping or slipping out of the hole.

Satisfied that it wasn't going anywhere, he stepped off of the chair, and sat in it, staring up at it with a grin on his face. That had gone smoothly, so all he needed was white toothpaste, and the ruse would never be caught by the maintenance crews. He still wondered where Otaki had learned the little trick from in the first place.

Leaving the girls some privacy, he stared at the gum, wondering if Sora was making headway convincing Belldandy. He hashed through a series of scenarios where people had found out, and none of them ended well in the least

The thought struck him then: He wasn't too worried about Sora's marriage to another woman in the slightest. It had nothing to do with anime or doujins, either. He had been surprised, true, yet there was this feeling like everything about it just drifted past the consciousness. Was this part of that System Force thing Belldandy had explained to him earlier? He decided it was best not to think too deeply about any of it.

He idly gazed over at the clock, noting the time was 1:00 in the morning. He yawned, and decided that he could come back tomorrow and finish the rest of the patchwork up. He should see if anyone in the Auto Club had any spare white paint left over from when they had to replace the aluminum window frames in the President's office.

He got up, grabbed his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder. He peeked in the kitchen and waved at both of the women when they caught sight of him.

"Good night" he said, waving, "I have an early class, but I'll see about coming over after noon. It was nice meeting you, Miss Belldandy."

"Good night," she replied nodding her head slightly in lieu of a bow, "Thank you for your help tonight. It was a pleasure meeting you."

"Bye, Morisato," Sora said. She looked a lot better overall then when he first appeared at her doorstep. The puffy cheeks were there, but her overall demeanor was back to the Sora he knew.

"See you at class tomorrow," She added. They both waved and he returned the gesture before making his way back to the dorm.

--

Now that Keiichi had left, Sora felt totally drained. She stifled a yawn behind her hand and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She took a look at the time, and realized why the boy had decided to leave. One in the morning is not constructive to a college student.

Yes, she had been up before when studying was involved, but she never stayed up late the night before a test, since the lack of sleep would ruin your grade worse than if you hadn't studied enough.

She and Belldandy had pretty much finished talking about the wisdom of proclaiming her powers to the rest of the mortals on Earth, and had been talking about each other's likes and dislikes. They were most likely going to spend a lot of time with each other, so it was better to know who they were dealing with.

"Ah, look at the time," Sora said in a semi-wooden voice, "I have classes tomorrow, so I should be going to bed.

The goddess merely nodded, placing her hand on the tea cup. It hadn't been the wonderful elixir from earlier, but it had been good nonetheless; she had felt a lot of the remaining tension draining from her shoulders.

Sora took herself to the room, undressed, and donned her favorite pajamas of a tee shirt and an old pair of sweatpants she had bought a long time ago. She noted that the cloth on both pieces was getting threadbare in a few places, and she resolved herself to the fact that she would eventually have to toss the set for a new one. She gently rolled the corner of a sleeve between two fingers, feeling how smooth and soft the material was from age.

With a slight frown, she put her hand down and went into the closet to get her futon. After several seconds of fighting with it that had become part of her daily routine, the bedding gave way, nearly putting Sora on her backside, had she not stepped and turned sideways to take her away from the path of its momentum.

She dropped the mass of cushion and blanket onto the floor, unfolded it, and straightened the blankets, before pulling the blankets back to gain access underneath. Sora tucket the material under her chin, turned to lay on her left side, and closed her eyes.

She opened them a moment later, undid her blanket cocoon, took off her glasses, placed them on her desk, and began the whole process of getting cocooned again.

With an annoyed grunt, she thought if there was something she had forgotten, but when nothing came to mind, she closed her eyes, opened them again, grabbed her headband, and tossed it at the empty futon closet with annoyance. Somehow she missed, which made her sigh in frustration before she gave up and hid herself under the covers.

After several minutes, she realized she couldn't sleep. She knew she had to, but either the caffeine in the tea, the adrenaline from so many mood changes in such a short time, or the sheer weight of those same events prevented her from sleeping.

The worst part was the feeling of it. She felt lightheaded and slightly dopey, sure signs that her mind wanted to rest, but her hands, whenever she unclenched them, shook slightly. She was sorely tempted to go into the medicine cabinet and take a couple of sleeping pills. If the test she needed to take tomorrow weren't for part of her major, she would have blown off the test and retaken the class during the summer term.

Just as she decided that the sleep was important enough to justify the use of at least one sleeping pill, Sora heard something she hadn't expected.

Belldandy was singing.

But the song was nothing she had ever heard before. It was sad, and soft and ethereal, yet you didn't feel that way; it was as if the tones elicited even more complex layers than you heard. The sound carried only to the bedroom, or so it seemed to Sora.

The song was magical, but not in the way one would expect from a Goddess. It was the clarity and feeling put into the song through voice that moved Sora. She had uncovered her head to soak in more of the amazing melody.

Twisting to lay on her back, she just listened, hearing Belldandy change the song several times into unique pieces of their own, yet all of them fit with one another to seem to weave a long story, threaded by the notes that the goddess weaved together with precision and delicacy.

Sora rubbed her eyes to get the sleepy sensation out of them, but the mere act semed to make her eyelids heavier. She found herself being taken away by each note, almost like the Disney movie "Fantasia" she remembered seeing when she was a child. She exhaled deeply, and felt completely at peace.

A few minutes had gone by since the last switch in the song, and this time, with very little effort, the music soothed Sora to sleep.

Not long after Sora had finally fallen asleep, the music faded away, and Belldandy peeked into the bedroom to see if the girl had fallen asleep. With a smile of relief, the Goddess returned to the kitchen to clean up the dishes.

Not too long after that, she undid the apron she had worn, folded it, and put it back on its shelf. She then went over to the sofa looked up at the hole in the roof, frowning slightly. She would have fixed the holes herself, but Keiichi's offer had been honest and direct, and she couldn't refuse it. The frown was in place because of the puzzle this now left her; she could have reversed the time on the damaged areas, but now that would be difficult. She tried an alteration to the prayer, hoping it would repair everything but the spot she was staring at intently. After a few minutes of prayer, she opened her eyes to see the piece of gum still in place.

Satisfied with the work she had done, she entered the bedroom, changed her dress to pajamas with another prayer, and slid into the bed beside Sora. Belldandy draped an arm across the girl, snuggled her head onto her shoulder and promptly fell asleep.

--

Keiichi walked home slowly, absorbed in his thoughts. Everything from the point where he saw that blinding blue beam of light pierce through the roof of the girl's dorm seemed like it was a dream.

But it wasn't. Hoo, boy it definitely wasn't! It was like something out of an anime!

The thing that bugged him though, was the fact that there hadn't been any fanfare regarding the incident. Why not? People would surely talk if they had seen an abnormal blue light in the middle of a quiet city like Nekomi. The city was too large to be a town, and too small and quiet to be a proper city, so, he knew, the gossip over such event could easily make it to the front page off the power of gossip alone.

Yet, there hadn't' been many people, if any, milling about the street at half-past eight at night.

If there had been pedestrians or motorists around, where were they? There hadn't been any police, paramedics, or fire trucks, let alone the usual crowd that gathered for such events in a heartbeat. It was too "clean."

That usually meant that you were either extremely lucky…

… Or unlucky.

In his experience, it always leaned towards the unlucky aspects. It was as if he were born under a bad star or something. The thought did nothing to ease his mind, either; Sora was a friend, and he didn't like seeing his friends have problems he was unable to help them with. He figured it had to be because of his "Mister Fix It" mentality added to his concern for the people close to him.

He unconsciously reached into his pocket for his smokes found them missing yet again. He was very tempted to go back to the trash bin he tossed them into and dig them out, but decided to let any vagabonds in the area benefit from his fit of pique.

Why had he just up and decided to quit? He didn't know, but he hoped, for what it was worth, that it would stick. The thought was promising, indeed.

Maybe it was his thoughts about Sayoko that did it; Miss Mishima had been interviewed several times as the Nekomi Tech's Queen, and in one, he remembered her saying that she disliked smokers.

Well, whatever. He would stop, and stay clean for as long as he possibly could. He bet Sayoko would approve of his choice. The thought of her approval made a smile start at the corners of his mouth.

He stopped, absently scratching the back of his head. Why was he thinking of her so much all of a sudden? Maybe it was due to Belldandy; he did see a lot of Sayoko's grace and inner strength in the Goddess. Yeah, that was most likely the crux of the matter. Maybe he shouldn't give up on trying to ask her out just yet. Who knows? If he were lucky, he might even get to take her on a date, or at the least have her recognize that he even existed.

But you never knew with things like this. Look at Sora! And it was all because of a careless mistake in a compliment!

He took the gum out of his pocket, and popped a piece into his mouth. With determination and care, he might just convince Sayoko of his good points.

At least, he hoped so. It sure as heck beat giving up without trying…


	3. About Town

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Three

About Town

The sun finally crested the horizon enough to permeate through Sora's bedroom. She woke up blurry-eyed, so she tried to wipe her eyes with her hands.

But she wasn't able to; Sora had shifted in the night to lay on her side and either Belldandy had snuck into the bed at that point in time, or she had snuggled into spooning with Sora when she had changed her position.

Position. Spooning. Sora didn't try to think about it. She attempted to move Belldandy's arm again, but it was like moving a sack of flour from that position. Sora stopped and thought about what she needed to do. She managed to leverage Belldandy's arm up a little, so she squirmed her way out by pulling herself towards the Goddess's waist. She had gotten out, but there had been a price; once free of the other girl's grasp, she put her arm down to see Belldandy staring at her.

"Gah!" Sora said, as gracefully as she could, while falling on her backside.

"Good morning!" Belldandy said, smiling. She stretched, yawned, and proceeded to put the bedding away.

"Belldandy," Sora stammered, "wait, I'll help, too."

The two women began stuffing the futon into its closet when there was a pounding at the door.

"Who could it be?" wondered Belldandy out loud. She was already on her way to the door.

"Come on, open up!" a voice that seemed to be male was calling from outside. It was too muffled to tell who it was.

Belldandy opened the door, and in charged Keiichi, huffing as if he ran across campus. He held up a paper to the Goddess, shaking violently.

"Do you see this?!?" He said, blinked as he realized it wasn't Sora, and came over to her. She instinctively jumped back in surprise. What had gotten into Keiichi?

Once again, he held the paper up, shaking it a little as he spoke, "Do you see this?!?" He repeated, sounding a little less winded as he did so.

"I can't see it without my glasses and you shaking it," she said calmly. A glance at Belldandy's reaction told her that she didn't know, either.

Keiichi allowed her to get her glasses, which lent to him being a bit more grounded as a result.

But not by much: The newspaper article's headline made her pale.

"EMERGENCY LAW PASSED!" said the paper, then in smaller letters, but not by much, "Same-Sex Marriages Law A 'GO!'"

Sora felt her knees almost give out from under her. It got worse: Under the image of the Parliament and Prime Minister shaking hands and smiling, was a smaller picture.

Of her.

Eating a taco.

She paled further. How did they get that picture? The only ones to have it were some of her friends. She read the caption.

"Image of Sora Hasegawa eating a taco. Photo by Keiichi Morisato, submitted by NIT Auto Club."

She then looked up at the headline.

It had gotten even worse.

Much worse.

The headline she should have paid attention to first. It would have softened the blow a bit.

"First same sex marriage! History has been made!

Who was she kidding? It felt like she had been crushed by a ton of gold bars, and then trampled by a herd of elephants.

With baboons riding them.

The last thing she saw was Belldandy and Keiichi running over to catch her.

--

Keiichi reached the fainted girl bare milliseconds faster than the Goddess, making sure to support not only her body, but her neck, as well. He gingerly picked her up and brought her to the sofa, placing her in a sitting position on it. He looked over at Belldandy and saw her hovering over Sora with a worried look on her face. She was about to pass a hand over Sora's head, but he forestalled her.

"She's okay," he said, smiling faintly, "It is just a fainting spell."

"She looks distressed," Belldandy replied, looking over at the other girl, "Her color is wrong, too."

Her color? Sora looked a little pale, but she didn't look like she was on death's door.

"She looks fine," Keiichi said, trying to sound reassuring.

"To you, she is," She replied, gently taking her hand away from Keiichi's and putting it on Sora's forehead, "To me, she's a swirling orange-and-yellow mass. Her heart was beating fast, and her temperature spiked!"

Keiichi was stunned. Belldandy could see ALL of that?

Belldandy looked at him from the corner of her eye, "Yes, I can. You're a shade of green, flashing to pink."

Keiichi felt his face flush. He was at a loss for words. Belldandy's newly-explained power made him feel very self-conscious about himself.

But on second thought: He should have known: She was a Goddess, after all…

…But if Belldandy was a Goddess…

"Belldandy," Keiichi began, looking at the woman, "There's something that I need to ask you."

"Yes?" She said, barely looking up from her ministrations. She was focused, and faintly glowing a sky blue.

Keiichi swallowed. "Well, if you can read thoughts," He began , "and you can see the colors of someone's emotions… Why didn't you pick up on Sora being upset?"

The Goddess paused a moment, and the glow faded. She looked at him biting her lip with an embarrassed look on her face.

"She was upset?" Asked the goddess, her face turning to abject horror, "I was so happy to be a wife, I completely misread the colors! I'm so stupid! I didn't think to check her thoughts!"

She jumped up and raced to the phone, dialing numbers in a blur. Keiichi was recovering from the surprise when the other end seemed to have picked up.

"Hello!" she said into the receiver, "Yes, It turns out that the wish was made in error. Yes, I'm sure. No, it's… Yes… Yes, but… I understand. Bye."

She hung up the phone. She looked at the receiver, before putting it on the base of the phone.

Belldandy looked as if she were going to start crying.

Now he had two of them to deal with! What was he going to do?

"What am I going to do?" the Goddess asked in a quiet tone, not taking her eyes from the phone, "The Almighty said that it can't be undone."

Keiichi tried to think of something, but his mind was not able to keep up with his racing thoughts. He went over to her and gave the girl a light hug. She looked like she could use one.

"Keiichi," Belldandy said, but then started to cry in earnest, "I… I…"

He didn't say anything while the fragile looking girl cried. The Goddess had reminded him of his sister Megumi, and so he just held Belldandy, allowing her to stop crying on her own.

When Belldandy finally moved away from Keiichi, she dried her eyes, and returned to Sora's side, raising her hand once more to the other girl's forehead. Not too long after the glow reappeared around the Goddess, Sora began to move again.

"She wasn't hurt," Belldandy whispered, relieved. Sora opened her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked, "Last thing I knew, I saw the paper and…" She trailed off, her eyes going wide. She grabbed the paper again and read, her face changing from surprise, to shock, to finally sad acceptance.

"My parents are going to kill me," she said in a voice a few octaves shy of a whine. To Keiichi, she was, given the circumstances, handling it the whole situation well. The other woman put a comforting arm on Sora's shoulder. Keiichi didn't know what to say, so he opted for silence instead. The last thing he needed was to comfort yet another person while they cried.

It did feel nice though, but that was besides the point.

Should he excuse himself and let the two absorb what he had just revealed to him? What if they didn't want to be alone after such news?

He turned towards the women as Sora started to get up. Suddenly, the carpeting slipped, pushing Sora face-first towards Belldandy. With a surprised yell, Sora reached forward…

… And planted a hand firmly on Belldandy's left breast.

Everyone in the room went bright read at almost the same time.

"I," Keiichi stammered, not really looking at the two girls' awkward position, "I'll go get us some donuts. Or something." No sooner were the words out of his mouth, he high-tailed it to the door, "I'll be back soon!" he added before closing the door behind him.

--

Sora stayed there for a moment, frozen. Sure, she had had her hands on breasts before, but she had never, _ever_ had her hands on someone else's! She blushed further, then moved her hand and herself away as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, feeling that now, she was going to be looked at like some sort of perv by someone she'd barely known for a day! Would these embarrassments never end?

"It's okay," Belldandy replied, still a little flushed, "We're married, after all."

"It is not okay!" Sora said, near hysterics, "I lost my wish to a stupid comment, I'm married to another woman, and the whole country knows about it!" She absently looked at the clock. It was now 9:00 in the morning. "And I'm going to miss my test!"

Surprisingly, the Goddess smiled.

"Not a problem! I can get you there in no time!" She grabbed Sora by the hand, and brought her into the bedroom.

"Now, get undressed." Belldandy said, clasping her hands together and praying before Sora could protest. Suddenly, the Goddess's clothes vanished, to be replaced by the outfit she had been wearing yesterday.

Belldandy finished, opened her eyes and looked quizzically at Sora.

"Aren't you going to change?" She asked. Sora flushed.

"I can't," she said, blushing again, "Not with someone else in the room."

Belldandy blinked.

"Why not?" She asked, intrigued.

"I just can't!" replied the shorter woman, pushing the Goddess out of the room before closing the door, "Give me five minutes!"

Sora raced to the closet, tossed off her pajamas and got ready for the day. She then proceeded to give her face a quick wash (though the puffy cheeks made her wish she could skip classes altogether) and brushed her teeth. She opened the door Just as Belldandy were about to knock.

"Ready to go!" she said. Belldandy nodded, and brought Sora out to the balcony. She grabbed on to both of Sora's hands.

"I've never done this before," Belldandy admitted, checking her grip on Sora. "Grab hold of my arms the same way."

"Why?" Sora asked, complying. She barely had a chance to catch her breath before Belldandy turned bright blue for an instant, and they took off like a shot through the air.

--

Keiichi went and got some breakfast fast food from a local pastry shop. He got some muffins and bagels, since there was no place close that sold donuts of any real quality. On his way out, he thought he saw a flicker of something blue flitting from telephone pole to telephone pole, but when he looked at them directly, nothing was there.

His imagination must be getting the better of him. She shrugged it off, and headed back towards Sora's dorm. Maybe the two women would be better clothed, instead of in their pajamas.

With no bras on.

And, very likely, no panties, either.

He shook the perverted thoughts away. It didn't help that these thoughts seemed to go through his head after seeing Sora accidentally grope Belldandy's breast.

He was doing it again! He really needed to think of something else, like how nice the weather looked, or what to have for supper, but his thoughts started going back to the predicament the two women were in.

Then, his mind went right back to the breasts. He squashed the thought down again, and resolved that, at any certain pint where is mind might wander, he's start thinking about what little damage control he could do for the girls.

In pajamas.

He smacked his forehead with the palm of his free hand. He had to think.

He was about to cross the street, when Sayoko sped down the road towards him in her bright yellow Mercedes. He blinked and waved at her, but she didn't notice. He sighed, feeling dejected yet again. Once again, those growth pill ads they showed on TV came to mind, but the decided against that. He was still young, and he could grow taller at any time. He kept hold of that delusion as he crossed the street.

Sayoko didn't seem to know he existed; he was almost sure that she had already forgotten about the debacle when he had asked her to go to the museum. So, what to do about it? He had no real idea how to win points with her in the slightest. Perhaps that romance magazine he had bought a while back would have some ideas? The actual thought of having to consult a book like that was embarrassing.

He finally made it back to Sora's place, and knocked on the door. Nobody inside had answered. Had the two given in to carnal passion? He doubted it, regardless of the interesting image that came to his mind. He knocked again, with silence responding the same way. Keiichi surreptitiously tried the door and, to his lack of surprise, the door was locked.

Giving up, he looked at his watch. If he walked fast, he'd be able to make it to his first class of the day in time.

--

Sora wanted to scream.

Not just from the height, but each leap Belldandy made from telephone pole to telephone pole made her stomach lurch in new and unusual ways. The vertigo didn't help – it made her feel as if her head were spinning in three directions at once.

Then there was the weightless feel compounded by the acceleration, the pause near the apex of the jump's arc, and then the rushing downward that a normal body shouldn't feel, so between the dizziness, the nausea and the weird feeling of the weightlessness, she would have vomited all over the passersby below, had she eaten lunch.

She closed her eyes, but that only worsened the other two sensations, so she snapped them open again and tried to focus on the horizon, which, she learned, is hard to do when arcing through the sky at the altitudes Belldandy was starting to reach.

Sora ventured a look down, and paled. Not because the people looked like ants that were rapidly growing in size, nor because the person under her was Sayoko Mishima getting in her car. It stemmed from the fact that Sayoko had just come from her father's corporate building, which was almost halfway across town from Nekomi Tech.

"Stop!" She said, barely over a whisper. She was using all her strength just to keep hold of the Goddess, for fear that she would become splattered on the ground below.

"What?" Belldandy asked, looking at her. The goddess thankfully stopped on the next telephone pole.

"We're going the wrong way!" Sora gasped. Maybe this wasn't the best method of transit, after all.

Belldandy looked back the way they had come, and pointed to the almost non-descript buildings and turned to Sora.

"Which of those buildings that way?"

Sora was searching the way, hoping to see something familiar. Sudden;y, she saw the unique apex of the Math and Sciences Building in between two taller objects.

"There," she pointed between the two buildings, "Once we reach that one, it is the third on our right."

Belldandy nodded, and took off again, the effect of which seemed to push Sora's stomach into her feet.

Sora hoped that they would make it on time; she felt her stomach roilingto the point she couldn't hold it anymore. She tried to think of soft, fluffy bunnies, and sleeping in on Saturdays.

But it wasn't working.

Before she could realize that her stomach wanted to empty itself, it was. She looked down reflexively, and watched Aoshima get out of his car directly under the airborne barf. The next thing she saw was Aoshima and most of his car's interior splattered with what used to be the contents of her stomach.

Sora winced at the carnage she had inadvertently caused. Hopefully he would never find out about this incident. Ever. She was mortified enough as it was; she didn't need for the person she had a crush on to think that she had caused him such embarrassment and misfortune.

Thankfully, that was the only incident. Her stomach seemed to calm down and the rest of the ride wasn't as bad as the first half. Good thing, too; they were approaching crowds of students milling from class to class, and the last thing she wanted was mass hysteria from what they would perceive as a chemical attack of some sort.

Within minutes of seeing the crowds, they arrived at their destination. The arts building wasn't as grand as others on the campus, but it was functional and clean, especially on the roof, where people's projects could cure in the open air.

Belldandy set down near one of the open-sided tents, releasing Sora as their feet touched the ground.

Sora resisted the urge to kiss the ground. She was extremely happy to be out of the air.

"We made it!" belldandy said, smiling. She mustn't have seen Sora's unexpected ejection, so Sora decided not to bring it up. The less people that knew it had happened, the less likely it could beproved, right? That was just as good as it not happening, in Sora's eyes.

"Yeah. Thanks," Sora said, flashing a weak smile. "I'll be donewith classes in a few hours. Would you want to go home, or would you want to stay here?"

"I think I'll tour the campus," Belldandy said, after a minute's thought, "It would be good to know my way around."

Sora nodded, and reminded Belldandy not to talk to anyone but Keiichi and herself as they walked down to the third floor. She also mentioned that they should meet in the main entrance of this building by two. With a wave, Belldandy continued down, while Sora made her way to class. Hopefully the little bit of studying she had been able to do would at least help her pass the class.

--

Keiichi found Belldandy outside the Mainhall of the Humanities and Arts building, admiring some of the pieces adorning the front entrance. She turned to see him, and smiled, waving happily at him.

"Hi," he said, repeating the gesture, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Sora is in class," the Goddess replied, turning back to a mechanical sculpture, "She said I could sightsee while I waited."

"Was she late?" Keiichi asked, knowing that Sora's class should be getting out soon, "I am barely going to make mine, and I probably left five minutes after you."

"She was on time," Belldandy replied, "I got her here in no time!"

"How?" Keiichi asked, half-dreading the answer.

Sending the boy's worry, she just looked at the sculpture, smiling a little.

"This was made with a lot of love," Belldandy said, touching the sculpture softly, averting answering nicely. Was she feeling guilty of answering, or could it be that she already figured out he knew?

"Yes," she said simply, smiling wider before walking over to another piece of art.

That answer, and how it was told to him made him understand: She had gotten Sora here using her powers, but they hadn't been spotted. She also implied that, by not speaking about it, that he shouldn't either.

Suddenly, the Goddess looked unwell. He made it over to her as she knelt near the artwork, holding her head with one hand as she did so.

"Are you okay?" he whispered to avoid the curious onlookers that were staring at them. Her eyes were half-closed, and her breath seemed a bit shallow. He put a hand on her shoulder and she put her free hand on his.

"I'm fine," she said in a breathy manner, "I just used too much energy getting here."

"Here," he said, offering his free hand, "I'll help you up."

Belldandy quietly accepted and, once up, tried making her way over to a bench.

Keiichi helped her over to the bench, stopping to let a few students walk by.

To his dismay, Sayoko was in the middle of the group, laughing and talking to the men and women around her. She caught a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye, so he decided to wave politely to her. She turned her focus to Belldandy for a moment and frowned, before rejoining the conversation around her.

_Great,_ Keiichi thought sourly to himself, _A chance to try to talk to Sayoko, and it's ruined because I was with another girl._ He hoped that he'd be able to explain the situation to Sayoko before it became a misunderstanding. He sighed, feeling dejected by Sayoko's reaction.

Seeming to sense his thoughts, Belldandy squeezed the hand that held her. He looked over , and gave him a reassuring look before focusing again on making it to the bench. Once there, she sat down hard, so he offered to get her a drink.

After paying for a water at a nearby vending machine, Keiichi returned to see Belldandy's been encircled by a crowd of men and women, curious as to the new arrival at school.

"How long have you been going here for?" asked one.

"Can I have your cell number?" Another one asked. It belonged to a female.

"Wanna come on a tour with us?" two said simultaneously. Fortunately, it was some twins, and not Tamiya and Otaki.

"He pushed his way through the crowd to stand in front of Belldandy. He offered her the drink, which she took gratefully while the crowd continued their barrage of questions.

"Come on, people, give her some room," he said, gently shooing them away. Surprisingly, they complied.

Seeming to have gotten the message, the group slowly disbanded. It annoyed him that there were so many desperate single people out there that resorted to these types of tactics. It made him wonder if this was part of the reasoning behind why Sayoko traveled in a group more often than not.

"Thank you," Belldandy said softly after taking a sip of water. She was still holding her head, but she seemed to be a bit more animated, as well. He merely shrugged as if it were something he did every day.

He had to admit it: If it weren't for Sayoko, or Belldandy's marriage to Sora, he'd probably be interested in asking the Goddess out on a date.

That was neither here nor there; he decided that he could make up the test tomorrow if he explained the situation to his professor. With any luck, they wouldn't have to wait for Sora for too long.

What he didn't' know, was that it was going to be the longest, most embarrassing two hours of his life.


	4. On the Bench

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Four

On the Bench

"Cute girlfriend, Morisato!" A passing person Keiichi recognized from one of his engineering classes shouted as he rose past on his bike.

"She's not my girlfriend!" He replied, but the distance between them made it fall on deaf ears.

"Way to go, Morisato!" Another one of his fellow students said, before attending to his own girlfriend.

"She's not-aww, to heck with it!" He said, crumpling his empty coffee can in his hand before tossing it in the recycling bin a bit more violently than he needed to.

It had been an hour since he shooed the onlookers away, yet in that time, word had spread across campus. So far, he hadn't seen anyone form the school's paper, but that could change at any time. He dreaded what would happen if his getting on the front page would mean to any hopes of trying to get Sayoko's attention.

He squashed down the thought. He had to simply wait for Sora to get back from her classes, and then…

…Then what? He had no real plan of any kind devised! He wasn't even sure if they needed his help any more! The thought did nothing to calm him down in the least.

"Good catch, Morisato!" A couple guys called as they passed by on their skateboards. It was amazing how many people seemed to be adventuring out to this remote part of the campus. Keiichi sighed and turned to look at the Goddess, who was leaning to her right, her arm cradling her head as she dozed. Was she okay? Was this normal for Goddesses? He had no clue, especially since it seemed to happen a few minutes after he brought her a drink. If he hadn't stuffed his hot can of coffee into his jacket's pocket to keep from getting a blister, he would bet that he would have been dying for a drink by now.

"Smooth going, Morisato!" A member of the Men's Tennis Club called as he ran by. The members following him gave cat calls and whistles that drowned out his fervent denials. This was getting frustrating! How many more people would be coming by today?

He turned to look down the path to pre-empt the next bunch of people coming at him, only to see something he dreaded even more.

Tamiya and Otaki had just turned the corner and were making their way towards him with a mission.

Which, of course, mean that they _were_ on a mission. He felt his mouth go dry: When those two were on a mission, it usually meant something was going to get damaged, someone was going to owe money or jailed, or, in some cases, all three.

He needed to find a way to escape. Any way.

He thought about making it look like he was kissing Belldandy, but with his luck, that would backfire in horrible, terrible ways he didn't want to think of, especially if that System Force thing Belldandy had mentioned yesterday really was in effect.

He thought about running, but that would leave the poor girl alone with them. Not that they would do anything to her, per se, but you could never be too sure when those two were concerned.

Keiichi also thought about feigning sleep. He knew they couldn't see him clearly from where they were, so he could do that, but they would just drag him off before he'd even "wake up."

Giving up, he decided he would just have to wing it, and hope that he could get away with it.

"MORISATO!" Tamiya hollered when he was close enough. Fortunately, that meant he was still far enough away to prevent Belldandy from waking. He turned and waved weakly at the two monstrous men.

"We need your help," Otaki said as they got closer, "The Motor Club needs your help." He said, in addendum.

"I'm sorry guys," Keiichi replied, trying to look casual, "I can't do it, whatever it is."

They looked flummoxed. For some reason, they thought that everything else in the world was superseded by Loyalty to Motor Club activities.

Keiichi tried not to gulp nervously. He wished he had kept some of that coffee to keep his mouth from feeling so dry.

"But the Motor Club has always been there for you!" Tamiya said, tears streaming down his face. If he had been handsome, Keiichi bet that Tamiya could have been an excellent dramatic actor.

"What about when you were low on money," Otaki added, "Was it not us that shared our cabbage, mayonnaise and vinegar with you in your hour of need?"

Keiichi had to think fast, otherwise they were going to either override or guilt him into going with them.

"I said I can't," he replied, "I already made a promise to help someone, or I would have been in German right now."

"So that's why he wasn't in the class," Otaki whispered, his sparkplug earring swaying as he turned to Tamiya. Or, at least, thought he had whispered to Tamiya. Tamiya nodded sagely at the information.

"What promise?" Tamiya asked, looking uncertainly at Keiichi.

"I promised to take this young lady for a tour," He replied, looking at both men, "Sora asked me, so she could catch up with us here when her classes finished."

They didn't say anything, but for a moment, he thought he could almost see the pistons pumping in their brains.

"I made a promise," Keiichi said hurriedly, "And as a member of the Motor Club, I am honor bond to uphold my promise."

"She could come along," Tamiya offered, but Keiichi, half anticipating this, sadly shook his head.

"Sorry," Keiichi replied, "She isn't dealing with the jet lag well. We wouldn't want to upset her too much: It's better to let her sleep until Sora comes back."

"We could stay," Otaki counter-offered, "We could even give her a tour of all the great places!"

"But didn't you guys need to do something?" He added quickly. They both blinked.

"Yeah," they said, sounding dejected.

"I could meet up with you as soon as Sora comes back," He offered before they worked out a way to muscle both Sora and Belldandy into this new scheme of theirs. Miraculously, the two took the offer.

"We're on the quad," Otaki said, nodding before leaving.

"We'll be waiting for you," agreed Tamiya following his compatriot.

With their departure, Keiichi finally exhaled. He was half expecting them to try to get their own way as usual, so now that they had gone, he could finally relax a little.

Suddenly, his stomach grumbled. Looking around anxiously, he saw that nobody was around to hear the embarrassing sound emanating from his gut. He looked at his watch, and it was almost noon. He hoped that Sora would come find them soon.

Sora somehow managed to make it through the first class without incident, feeling confident that she had actually passed the test regardless of her lack of studying. She relaxed, and made it to her next class.

With no incidents so far, she felt heartened. Maybe luck was with her, and nobody had read the front page of the paper. They were college students, so they would usually focus on grades and socializing and clubs over current events, unless something big came up.

She rewound that thought. Something. Big.

Big like an emergency law that seemed to be an almost abuse of power.

She entered the room and knew.

Everyone in the classroom had their eyes on her. She felt herself swallow nervously before entering the room.

Somehow, she had the feeling that her Physics class had just turned into Social Studies.

She didn't look at anyone as she made her way up the stairs to the middle of the classroom. Focusing on her feet and the chairs so she wouldn't hit anyone, she made her way to almost the middle of the classroom and sat down as she usually did.

It was then that it hit her – she was literally now the center of attention: She could feel the rest of the filling room staring at her. Sora decided that she really didn't like that feeling at all.

The room was surprisingly quiet, except for the few scattered bits of conversation she could hear as she got her book and her notes from her bag. She could feel the blush beginning on her cheeks and it felt almost as if it was going to burn through her scalp. She tried taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, but all that ended up doing was making her feel like she was trying to cure hiccups.

Suddenly, the room quieted down as the professor, an older lady with horn-rimmed glasses and her black hair in a bun whistled for everyone's attention. The sound made Sora jump more than it usually did.

"Now then," The Professor said, glancing at the students as she did so, "there has been some excitement in the papers today, but since the newlywed was able to find time in her busy schedule to come to school instead of traipse off on a honeymoon, let's all congratulate her and start class."

Everyone clapped, and a few cheered. Intermixed she could hear congratulations, which only made Sora feel like she wanted to hide under the chair and die from embarrassment. She feebly stood up, waved and sketched a quick bow, and sat back down. She could havFe sworn that her teacher was smiling… And did she just _wink _at Sora? She needed to remind herself to get the Professor something nice as a thank-you gift.

The rest of the class went smoothly. The teacher passed out the test reference pages and the next homework assignment to be due after the lab. After taking one and handing the pile to the next student, she made a hasty retreat, dreading her next class.

Maybe she should skip it? She should get back to Belldandy as soon as possible to prevent any incidents. It would be a good excuse to leave before the lecturer (who wasn't even a full professor anyway) could smart off about how his theories will revolutionize his field and whatnot. Sora was still torn on what to do, but then she arrived at the classroom door.

She was ready to just walk right past it, when the lecturer turned the corner while talking to one of the other lecturers in a semi-heated debate.

Knowing that he'd rope anyone in his class to his defense, Sora opened the door and hustled up to the far back of the class under the burnt out lighting that she used to hide from being called for in his class. If anyone else ever found out about this trick, she couldn't be sure that a riot wouldn't break out for the spots.

She slipped into the seat just in time: The teacher came through the door, continuing his tirade with his cohort and never looked up to her location.

Both men stopped their argument as students started to fill the room, but they seemed to feel the tension, and gave worried glances at the two as they shuffled past. Finally, the other left, commenting on continuing later, which was met with a curt nod from her teacher.

With the class starting, everyone's eyes were on the podium, so she had escaped another embarrassing situation. If she were lucky, the lecturer would cut the class short so he could find the other person and continue the discussion. She fervently hoped that was the case.

Sayoko was feeling rather good about the day. No less than twenty guys had already come to her declaring their love for her. She had turned them all down, of course, but in a mental note to herself she did recall that this had been the most suitors by noon that she had ever had thus far.

Today, she didn't have her usual gaggle of either suitors or those people rich and popular enough to be with her, but that was okay; she had sent them all on their way to give her the opportunity to make the rounds of the campus to entice any new, unsuspecting fools to her.

This had to be her absolute favorite game: travel across campus on foot for unsuspecting prey. Lure in the rich? Get connections to potential families! Lure in the besotted? What better way to have affection given to you?

The absolute win-win situation.

What would happen today? Would she steal away some girl's sugar daddy? Maybe break up childhood loves? The anticipation was delicious, all in itself!

Sayoko made her way past the sciences block of the school, and knew from the almost run-down, ratty sidewalk that she was now in the arts and culture section, even before seeing the buildings through the trees in its neighboring park.

It was then that, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the couple sitting quietly on a bench facing the physics building. Feeling a stroke of luck had just come her way, she slowly started to wander over. Since neither of them was looking her way, she popped out her sunglasses, and continued towards the couple as if she were on a catwalk.

She looked closely at the two as she approached. The girl was about her age with light brownish hair done in an intricate style and her clothing was "exotic" to say the least, but it looked as if high quality craftsmanship had been put into it.

The girl was beautiful as well, which probably explained why the guy seemed to be paying more attention to her than to Sayoko. No matter: When she started talking to the boy, she could almost guarantee that his attention would be completely on her.

"Hey, there," She said, tilting her sunglasses a little to look over them in what she knew to be a sexy, captivating move with a high success rate. Sure enough, the boy looked up, and blushed deeply, probably smitten by her looks and style.

"O-oh," he stammered, "hi. I didn't see you there."

Didn't see her? How could he miss such a magnificent body? She decided to let it slide.

"Is something wrong with her?" She asked, looking closer at the beautiful girl next to him. Without the sunglasses as a filter, the girl's skin looked almost to be glowing. The boy had looked, gulped nervously, and returned to her gaze, his hand going to the back of his head. Was he going ald at an early age or something?

"Sh-she's fine," he replied, giving a short, nervous laugh, "It is probably jet lag."

Jet lag. That explained some things to her regarding this mysterious woman.

"Ah," she said simply, then turned to look at him, "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No! She isn't," He had said defensively. Too defensively, as if he had his eyes set on this woman, no matter what his words said. Maybe she should have a little fun with him.

"She's too cute and _gaijin_ to be your sister," She stated, deliberately making the word have a hint of derision. Would he pick up on it? Maybe pick up on the slight she gave him?

"Yeah," he said simply. Maybe he wasn't going to be as fun to play with as she thought. Still…

"You know where she's from?"

"Norway, I think. I hadn't asked?"

"That's a little bit rude," She frowned giving him her best disapproving glare with it.

"A lot happened," He replied defensively, "She arrived last night, and before I knew it, I was asked to give her a tour."

"I see," she said with an unbelieving tone.

"R-Really," he stammered, "The person she's here to visit had a test, so she asked us to wait here. I was going to ask for more details, but when I turned to talk to her, she was already in dreamland."

_She?_ So this beautiful woman was here to possibly see a relative, which meant that she should wait a bit for the two to get acquainted before breaking them apart.

It seemed the game just got a bit more interesting than before.

"Is she here for long?" Sayoko asked, turning her gaze back towards this unusual woman. Maybe she should wake her up? No – Something about how blissful the person look told her that she really shouldn't. She still was tempted to; just to see what kind of fun she could have with her.

"I don't know," the boy replied, still looking a bit flustered "It depends."

Depends on what? She didn't ask, allowing her nod of assent act as an answer.

"Well, then," she said, putting her glasses back on, "I've taken up enough of your time mister..?"

"Keiichi Morisato," he barely mumbled. She nodded again.

"…Mister Morisato." She said, continuing, "If she does wake up, and I am still around, please be sure to bring her to me for a formal introduction. Ta!" She took off with a wave, not bothering to look or listen for a reply.

It had been fun! Should she offer to ask the girl to join her "private club" within the college? Should she act as the girl's rival, only to rip her beloved from her once they've had a chance to get together? It depended on how much time she had to do both. Maybe even with limited time, she could still have some fun with this, especially if the two started seeing each other and tried to carry on a long-distance relationship.

It was too delicious! If luck were with her, she could tear them apart in less than a month.

Sora managed to get through the tedious class without incident. The teacher did as expected by cutting the class after going over some of the key points in the lecture. Sora didn't believe that the professor was going to last past the semester, given the fact that he'd alienated both students and teachers. With the semester-end reviews, she was betting that he'd be called before the review board and sent on his way.

She slipped out of the class after everyone exited, but couldn't get anywhere, due to the rush of students making their way from their classes to the cafeteria in the student union.

This was in the exact opposite way she wanted to go.

Being swept along with the crowd, she hoped that she could get out before ending up even further away from her destination. She reached out to grab hold of one of the railings to the ramp she was now going down…

… Only to catch hold of someone's sleeve.

To her dismay, it was Aoshima. He looked bedraggled in contrast to his usual appearance, but he was in a better state than when she had accidentally "fired" on him.

Aoshima's eyes opened wide at the sight of her, and she quickly released him.

"Sorry!" she said, as the tide of people pressed her towards the exit at the other side of the building complex.

She tried again, and this time, she was able to get hold of a door handle, and anchored herself there until the press of people subsided, she began to make her way back to where she said she'd meet Belldandy.

A hand reached out and grabbed her, and Sora squeaked involuntarily. She looked up to see Aoshima holding onto her with an annoyed look on his face.

"You could have ripped my shirt," he said in a haughty voice. His face looked annoyed with her.

"Sorry," She answered, bowing with a blush forming on her face, "It was an accident – I was reaching for the handrail, and got you instead."

Aoshima seemed to be sizing her up in his mind, and, after a small grimace, turned from her while dusting his shoulder.

"Don't let it happen again," he said, walking down the hall the same way the mob of people had gone.

For one moment, Sora didn't feel so bad about barfing on his suit and car. Suppressing a sniffle, she made her way out to the meeting point.

Belldandy was nowhere to be found.

Where could she have gone? Had she gotten in trouble for being here without passing through Security? Did one of the groups "assault" her and managed to recruit her for their club? She had to find the Goddess before someone took advantage of her.

She didn't have to go too far though: Just a little further up the path, she saw Keiichi sitting with Belldandy on a bench. The Goddess seemed to be napping, and Keiichi was talking to Miss Mishima. Keiichi didn't seem to be looking at Miss Mishima and, as the woman left to continue down the path, Sora decided to wait a moment before going over to the pair on the bench. She saw Keiichi gently push at Belldandy's shoulder to try to wake her.

"Hey there," Sora called as she got in earshot. Keiichi looked up and waved to her.

"Hey," he replied "All done with classes?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I didn't go," He said, nodding towards the Goddess, "I had my hands full."

"Ah," Sora replied, bowing slightly, "Sorry, and thank you."

"Not a problem." He answered simply.

"What about Miss Mishima?" Sora asked. For an answer, the boy went beet red. If he were any more transparent with his feelings, he might as well be a jellyfish. She wondered if Miss Mishimahad noticed how the boy felt towards her or not. For all she had heard of the billionaire heiress, she was sure that the woman would use Keiichi like a toy, and then throw him away when she got bored with him.

Keiichi dodged the subject after a long silence.

"She's been sleeping pretty much since I found her," he said, "I've tried gently prompting her to wake, but nothing's worked. I don't know what else to try, short of dumping water on her."

Sora didn't know what to do either, so she opted to try herself to see if her efforts would get some results. She stepped closer to the sleeping woman and started to reach out her hand.

Right then, she stubbed her toe on the upraised sidewalk. The force of her momentum pushed her towards Belldandy. It looked like she was going to collide with the Goddess face-first.

_Oh, God,_ part of her mind said as she moved closer to the other woman, _Please don't let this be my first kiss._

She didn't have time to contemplate the thought: Suddenly, Belldandy's eyes shot open, and she moved to sit upright…

…Causing Belldandy and Sora's foreheads to come into contact.

"Ow!" both girls said simultaneously. Sora fell back, landing on her backside while holding her forehead. Belldandy held her forehead as well, one eye was open, while the other was partially closed, as small frown on her face.

Sora's head and butt hurt, but her pride seemed to be bruised more than either. She had a very unglamorous moment that was seen by Keiichi, one of the few people she really respected. At least it hadn't been Aoshima. If it had been him, Sora would be curling up under the bench and die from extreme embarrassment.

She looked over at Belldandy, who seemed to be recovering without as much as a bump on her head. Sora could feel the lump growing under her bangs. Maybe she would crawl under the bench, after all.

"Are you okay?" Keiichi said to both of them.

"I'm fine," Sora lied, trying to ignore the hurts she just suffered.

"I am okay," Belldandy answered, a faint blue light glowed briefly before winking out. Sora envied the Goddess's power at that moment.

"I think I'll go get something for you to put on those bruises," He said, giving them both a skeptical look, "It's better to be sure than to have them leave nasty bruises. I'll be right back."

As he left, Belldandy got up from the bench and carefully approached Sora, her hand outstretched.

"I'm okay," Sora protested, but Belldandy stopped her with a finger to her lips.

"You can't fool me," the Goddess whispered. She put her glowing hand on Sora's head, and in a moment, the pain in both places dissipated. Sora was glad that the other woman didn't need to place her hand on each hurt.

Belldandy sudden;y blushed, and retreated to the bench. When Keiichi returned, both of them were sitting on opposite ends of the park bench.

"All I could find," Keiichi said, holding some bottled waters in his hand, "Were some drinks in from the vending machines. It might help keep the swelling down.

"I'm fine, Keiichi," Sora said, lifting her bangs to show there was nothing at the point of contact.

"As am I," Belldandy replied, showing her forehead to the boy. Finally convinced, Keiichi put the drinks on the bench.

"Guess it was for nothing," he sighed. Sora thought he looked depressed that he couldn't help them in some way. She picked up one bottle and opened it, taking a slow drink from it.

"Not true," she said putting the bottle on the bench. Belldandy mimicked the act, which seemed to soothe the boy's worry.

Suddenly, Keiichi's stomach grumbled, or rather, since he blushed after the loud rumbling sound, the culprit had been found out.

"Excuse me," He said, still blushing, "It is past lunchtime now. Maybe we should hit the Student Union?"

The thought was enough to trigger their stomachs rumbling. All three of them started laughing after a small, embarrassed silence.

"Well,it's unanimous," Belldandy said, causing the other two to smile, "I think we should get something to eat, before we waste away to nothing."

"Bell's got the right idea," Sora agreed.

"Then it's settled," Keiichi said, "Since I have a bit extra cash on me, it'll be my treat."

They headed towards the Student Union, when Belldandy tugged on Sora's sleeve.

"'Bell?'" the Goddess asked, curiosity plain in her voice and face.

"It's a nickname," Sora shrugged, "Plus, it was getting tough saying 'Belldandy' all the time."

"I see," Bell said, a smile spreading across her face. She grabbed hold of Sora's arm, refusing to let go until they reached the Student Union.


	5. Sleepless in Nekomi

Disclaimer: I don't own _Ah! My Goddess_ or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Five

Sleepless in Nekomi

Sora felt someone gently prodding her for attention. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from her arms to see Belldandy's face before her.

"Did you sleep well?" Belldandy asked, a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah," Sora replied, rubbing her eyes. She put on her glasses…

… And all hell broke loose: Belldandy was wearing a flannel shirt over a white tee, some boot-bottom jeans and was pulling a cigar from her front pocket. Sora also noticed that the Goddess's hair was considerably shorter, and the stylized wisps in front were smaller than normal.

"Good," Belldandy said, biting the end off of the cigar, spitting it in the trash, and finally lighting the end with the lit candle next to Sora.

Sora blinked. Not just because of the terrible smell of the cigar, but also because she was not expecting what she had seen. She rubbed her eyes to make sure they were fine.

"Time to go to the job," Belldandy said, taking a puff from the cigar, blowing a few concentric rings into the air before winking at Sora, "but after I get home from the logging company, we'll be sure to pick up where we left off."

Belldandy leaned towards Sora, her mouth partially opened, and her tongue stuck out a little. Their lips were about to touch…

… When Sora woke up, gasping for air. She felt as if she had run a marathon: she was short of breath, and her pajamas clung to her in splotchy areas on her skin. She rubbed her eyes again, and saw that things appeared to be back to normal, save that the Goddess had unconsciously pushed Sora off her own pillow during the night.

She edged her way to the kitchen and got a drink, mulling over the here days that had passed without incident since Belldandy had fallen asleep on the bench. During that time, she had learned some amazing things, and they seemed to be accumulating as the new member of her dorm room spoke to her. First was, even though Belldandy was a Goddess First Class (Unlimited), she still did have limits to her power. Second was, that as that power drained, there was only so many things she could do at a time. Third was, the Goddesses used their power to send the wish to the System, starting the System Force's activation, and that power can sap the granter for sometimes for more than a few days.

What this fully meant to Sora, she wasn't sure, but she figured that it lead to what she called the "Painting Aoshima Incident" which Bell had sworn to never bring up again. The Goddess hadn't made excuses for her hopping around town from telephone poles; instead, she regretted having to conserve the power just to stay as functional as she was able to.

After finishing a cup of milk, she sat at the kitchen table thinking. For the last few days, there had been no other problems in her life, and that had scared her. She hadn't gotten calls from her family, and she was too terrified to call home, only to find out that they had disowned her completely before she could ever explain herself.

At least she didn't have to get dragged to any _omiai_.

She rested her cheek on the palm of her hand, debating what she still needed to do to get her life back to normal.

She suddenly woke when her cheek slipped off her hand and smacked the table. Fortunately, it wasn't too far of a distance and the impact was cushioned by the place mat she had put out to make the cramped quarters feel a bit more "homey."

"Ow," She said, more out of surprise than anything at all, rubbing her cheek. Sora looked over at the clock and grimaced: It was three in the morning, and a Saturday, too! She was hoping to sleep in and take it easy! Deciding that nightmares were still volumes better than lack of sleep, Sora climbed back into the futon, wrapped herself in her own blanket like a cocoon, and tried to get to sleep.

--

Keiichi's feet dragged as he entered his dormitory. Working late at night to earn extra food money was really draining yet rewarding at the same time. He had been pointed to the construction job by his seniors in the Motor Club after helping them at their fundraising event three days ago. Even though nobody had needed anything repaired, Tamiya and Otaki had still managed to make some money for the club by assisting a girl with moving out of her apartment while he had waited with the club's signs and three-wheel car for their return.

It was just as well; they had been ready to make him chase anyone that had refused to pay their exorbitant fees on a heavily-modified mini-bike, if need be. He wondered if they would have made any profit from such a bold move, and opted not to think of it, knowing that any damages would have been from _his own_ pocket, had there been any.

He curled up in his futon, not even bothering to get out of his work clothes or his riding jacket. Sleep was elusive, though: He wanted to close his eyes and have pleasant dreams of Sayoko and him, going places and doing various tings on his Beemer, but all he thought about was the stress of classes, the greater stresses of the Motor Club and the situation Sora had gotten herself into.

More importantly, what about the whole thing upset him? It wasn't like he could feel for Sora's predicament – not everyone got married to a Goddess – it was more like Sora was him, and had made an off-the cuff remark which had gotten her in trouble.

And that scared him. Would he screw up his own wish on something trivial as a whim? Would he botch it up with a joke? He very likely would, and he bet that he'd have thought that Tamiya, Otaki or both of them were behind the whole thing.

So, what would you do to remove such a wish? As a guy, he'd be willing to just go with it, and hopefully grow a loving relationship with that person.

His thoughts shifted to other things, such as grades, the Motor Club activities, work, and finally, his own, non-existent love life. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and put his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.

Sayoko. What could he do to get her attention? He wasn't rich. He definitely wasn't tall or handsome, and his eyebrows still reminded him of two caterpillars glued to his forehead. He sighed, resigned to the fact that hopefully, the right love would come to him at the right time.

Yet, he still wished that it would be Sayoko.

Frustrated with himself for thinking about her again, he threw aside his covers, stood up, and went to get some cigarettes out of his desk. He remembered that he had thrown out his last pack the night Sora had made her wish to Belldandy right as he opened the drawer.

Great. No smokes. No love life. No sleep. All night he'd been looking at every little thing in terms of linked circles, which made him feel as if he was going nowhere fast.

He sighed, deciding that maybe he should just take a walk to clear his head, but decided again that, since a walk was what got him in this loop in the first place, he decided that he'd just go for a quick ride, instead.

Hoping that the Beemer wouldn't have any problems, He got dressed, and headed to the parking bay to get his bike for a quick spin out to the countryside.

--

Sora awoke to her face cradled in her arms. Drool had escaped the corner of her mouth, ran down her left forearm onto the placemat, where it made a dark, wet splotch on the fabric. She wiped her mouth with her hand, which she then absently wiped on her pajamas. She yawned before trying to return to her room. Bell was sleeping in an almost fetal position and had claimed her pillows by hugging them. The unlikelihood of Sora getting them back was slim, too; Bell had an iron grip on them and was humming softly into them.

Sora blushed realizing that she could have been in the same situation as the pillows, if she hadn't fallen asleep in the kitchen. Deciding that returning to the futon was a lost cause, she made her way to the couch, grabbing the spare blanket from under the sofa's cushion. She fluffed it out before practically dropping onto the soft upholstery.

She couldn't sleep now; the two quick naps had given her a second wind, so her mind seemed to be going at full tilt: She was thinking of her classes, Belldandy, the Motor Club and their next "questionable" event. She knew it usually happened in conjunction with, or to spite the Miss Nekomi Tech pageant held on campus every year, but fortunately, the weather was still a bit too cold for that to be a problem for quite a while.

She yawned and wished she could move a little in her new bed, but sofas were not made to be slept in, so she cocooned herself in the blanket, decided that she didn't like how she had done, and restarted it until she was satisfied.

Sora was just slightly more comfortable, but she hoped it was enough for her to go back and recoup some of the lost sleeping time. Rolling onto her side, she sighed and stared at the wall, hoping the starkness of its features would lull her into slumber.

--

Sayoko wistfully sipped at her champagne before swirling it in a calculated whimsical way. These social parties she always went to were usually a snorefest, but she had to come to encourage relationships with her family's corporate ties.

She was bored. Bored almost to tears. How long could one person go on about the Dow Jones, anyways? She listened to him rattle off numbers like those baseball nerds that dressed in their team's jerseys, and did funny dances during the middle of the game.

She had been in a bar where everyone had been like that, and promptly left.

This guy was talking about buying stocks as if it was exciting! SNORE! He should just go home, put on his jersey, and root for his favorite corporation to skyrocket or plummet in the market!

Everyone laughed a polite laugh, and she joined in before using that as her excuse to escape. He looked like he was going to follow for a moment, but the crowd had started to ask him questions that pulled him back.

She looked around and, seeing nobody, drained the glass in one go. She put it on a table, and made her way towards another little cluster of boring little people. A waitress walked past her, so she grabbed another glass of champagne and, now braced for more boredom, made her way over to them.

Sayoko had learned at an early age the right tricks to use at social gatherings to act like you were listening, without having to actually deal with these people: A laugh at the right time, a nod of the head. A look of feigned interest and the audience was sure you were listening to their every word. She absently nodded and took a sip of her drink.

How much more of this did she have to endure? Oddly, there were never any clocks at these sort of settings, which only made her think that time had stood completely still instead of just slowing to a crawl. What's this? More Dow figures? Do these people really think of nothing else?

What about fast cars? What about the power they control? Hell, she'd even take _golfing_ stories right about now!

With a polite nod and a small lift of her half-emptied glass, she took off again for yet another one of these droll cliques. Once she made the rounds, she hoped she could find a good excuse to escape.

"Sayoko, dear!" her Aunt Aoshima called as she neared the group, "We were just talking about you!"

Great. Another over-ambitious part of the family trying to gain favor with the main house. What next? Will Auntie's son be coming over to slather praise on her? It was bad enough he bothered her at school.

"You remember the Fords, and the Yamatos? Good," Her aunt said, barely allowing Sayoko to speak, "They both have wonderful sons who are just eager to meet you at the Christmas party!"

"Charming," Sayoko replied, feeling disgust. She had met the men before, and all they cared about was getting their next good lay. Sayoko was still betting her money that the shorter Japanese man had to pay for his affections every night.

"You should join us," her aunt continued, "since we were going to discuss the latest trends in the market."

Ugh… No. Not yet another boring conversation about the same damned thing! Go home and get your damned jerseys, already!

"I'd love to," Sayoko smiled, "But I must be off. I have an important test in the morning."

"I see," the aunt said, and everyone else murmured their disappointment as well, "maybe next time."

"Maybe," Sayoko said before shaking a few hands, and giving her Aunt a polite hug and kiss on the cheek, "Goodbye."

She had never been so happy to leave a party in her life. On her way home, she picked up a bottle of bourbon, and a strong vodka. The burbon was for tomorrow's dinner, but the vodka was hers tonight.

Thank goodness she had no classes tomorrow.

--

Keiichi had given up on going for a ride out to the country, when he saw that he was low on fuel. With a sigh, he decided to see if any of the spare tanks in the Motor Club's garage had any gas that he could replace with his next paycheck. It was very unlikely though, since he knew everyone else mooched off those tanks like a lifeline, but you never knew; one of these times he might just get lucky.

With the urge for nicotine still lingering in the back of his mind like an itch, he had taken the bike to the local store. He was almost about to pull into the free spot, when a bright yellow Mercedes skipped into the space before he could. He saw Sayoko get out of the car as he passed by her, so he sighed and went further down the street to look for a spot.

There was nothing free for over a mile.

Giving up on the smokes, he decided that he should get the gas after all. He made his way to the school, wondering if the vending machine had been filled since yesterday.

God, he needed a smoke.

Giving up on the smokes, he decided to go get the gad after all.

He blinked. He had just thought that a moment ago. He shook his head and smacked his cheek with one of his hands. His body knew he was tired, even if it had taken his mind a while to catch up.

This wasn't a good situation to be in.

_Figures,_ he thought, _when I don't want to sleep, I start dozing off. If I want to sleep, I'm unable to._

He stopped his bike on the side of the park entrance, and spotted a fountain. Dismounting the bike, he walked over, took off his helmet, and pushed the lever to make the water go. Putting one hand under the flow of water, he then moved it to his face, rubbing it in proximity to his eyes before covering the rest of his face with the cool liquid.

Satisfied that he had more clarity of thought, he put his helmet back on and started the bike again. He put on his directional before stopping at a corner. The way was clear, so he took the turn and started making his way down the road.

As he neared the girls' dormitories, he took the corner at the building with no incident. He had made it about a quarter of a mile from the dorm, when a truck came barreling around the corner he was fast approaching.

The truck was over the line on his side.

It was also swerving, as if the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.

He swerved, hopping the curb with just the sidecar to avoid being hit by the runaway truck. He tilted towards the sidecar and heard a crunch at the same time. He winced, knowing that the struts that attached the car to the bike had basically crumpled on impact with the unforgiving granite slabs that lined the curb.

All this had happened in an instant, but as these thoughts went through his mind like molasses, he was also watching the truck swerve behind him as he put on his brakes. It seemed the driver stepped on the gas, as the vehicle sped closer to the dorm.

--

Sora started awake at the sound outside. It sounded like a large truck was gunning down the road at incredible speed. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, curiosity prompting her to head towards the door.

When she opened it, she saw a truck wobbling I the middle of the road, going at least seventy miles per hour towards their dormitory. As she was about to scream a warning, the truck plowed into the corner of the building, taking out a good portion of the first floor, before its trailer ripped out the rest and most of the second floor. The shock of this final impact shook the landing she was standing on, causing her legs to slip out from under her and make her land on her butt.

Within seconds, Bell had appeared, looking out at first the ruins of the corner, then over to her. Without hesitation, the Goddess was looking over Sora with a discerning eye.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Sora nodded.

"Only thing injured is my pride," Sora said weakly.

Satisfied that Sora didn't seem to be injured, the Goddess started down the stairs. Sora followed as best as she could while rubbing her backside.

As she approached, she could see the lights had come on in all the occupied dormitories, and all of the girls seemed to be coming out for a look at the devastation. Bell had made her way over to the truck's cab by subtly drifting over the debris splayed everywhere. Sora tried to follow, but without similar skills, she could only look on from two meters away.

"He's breathing," Bell said over her shoulder to Sora, "He's also bleeding from several wounds; one of the injuries is his nose, which he must have hit on the steering wheel.

"Is he wearing a seatbelt?" She asked. Belldandy shook her head. It's a shame, too; if truck drivers are caught driving either drunk or without their seatbelts, not only could they lose their license, but their insurance premiums would skyrocket.

What was she thinking? The poor guy could be dying in there, and all she thought about was his premiums going up! She had to focus!

"You haven't moved him, have you?" Sora called. She noticed that more people were now circling the truck. Most of them didn't move because of lack of shoes, and those that had footwear were in house slippers.

"No," Belldandy replied, her voice faint because she was talking into the damaged cab, "He's unconscious. Should I try to wake him?"

"No!" Sora said, wishing she could remember anything of her CPR classes. Since the poor guy was out, she couldn't remember if it was good to wake him or not.

Fortunately, she didn't have to worry for too long; she could hear the sirens for the paramedics and the police quickly approaching.

Within minutes, they had the whole scene under control, and some of the men were thanking Belldandy for her assistance, blushing as they bowed and shook her hand. Some of them looked stupidly at either the Goddess or their hand, depending on where in the queue of rescuers they were.

Sora wondered what they would do if they kissed her cheek, and promptly squashed the thought down: Knowing that they'd probably melt or spontaneously combust might have been funny to think of, but not in this situation!

She watched Bell's smile falter as the line of people came and went. The goddess's eyes looked wet and shiny to her.

That couldn't be good. Belldandy's smile was now sometimes taking on a grimace-like appearance, so Sora decided to make her way over to the woman. She stepped gingerly between the fragments of glass, plaster, splinters and other debris with care. When she looked up, she could see Bell's eyes now held as many tears as they could. A few more feet, and she'd be there.

She hoped that she could make it before the tears poured forth.

Finally at Belldandy's side, she waved the gentlemen away, thanking them for their support, and started to bring the goddess back to her dorm room.

"Are you okay?" She asked, the worry on Sora's face must have been evident, because Belldandy's face crumpled, and the tears poured forth in slow gentle rivulets down her face.

"I-" Bell said, but the sentence became I hiccup, then a sob, and all of a sudden a torrent of tears poured down her face.

"I-" She repeated. Belldandy came closer, enclosing her in an embrace. The actuality of what happened seemed to have punched into her as the truck had to the dorm. The shock and trauma of seeing it so close, the feelings of inevitability and helplessness, and worse than all of those was, to Sora's mind, the fact that Belldandy had been right there in all the blood and glass.

It probably would have hit Sora harder, she knew, so she just held Belldandy closer.

"It's okay," Sora whispered in her ear, gently making comforting hushing noises, as if Sora was comforting a baby, "It's all right now. It's okay."

Belldandy cried for a while, because when she finished, the team had cleaned p the majority of the damage, the truck had been towed off, and someone had found some tarps to put over the damaged building.

Bell must have felt drained, because after a few minutes of Sora's gentle coercion, the Goddess allowed the other woman to bring her back inside their apartment.

--

Keiichi had watched the truck careen into the building. There hadn't been anything else he could have done: he had tried blaring his horn and shouting at the truck driver with no results, and him trying to stop the truck himself with such a short timeframe to do it would have been suicidal.

He felt helpless, knowing that he didn't have the know-how to save the guy's life, but he could at the very least notify someone. He turned his bike around, and made his way a few blocks towards the volunteer fire department.

Keiichi pulled into their driveway, killed the ignition, and raced up to the door. There was an old man nodding off in the office chair, his feet resting atop the old desk's surface.

"Hello!" Keiichi pounded on the door to get the man's attention. Either the old guy was deaf or fast asleep in dreamland. At least, he hoped so – the old man could have died in his sleep, as well.

"Hello!" Keiichi tried again. He looked to his left, and saw a buzzer. He pressed it several times to get the man's attention.

"Come on!" he screamed, hoping his voice would make it through the thick glass. He could hear the muffled buzzer from inside, so at least that was good. He kept his finger on the button until it felt numb.

Suddenly, the old guy opened his eyes, yawned, and got up to open the window.

"How can I help ya?" He asked.

"Accident." Keiichi said, "Girls' Dorms. Call someone now!"

The old guy nodded, and got on his radio. In a few minutes he heard sirens heading towards the general vicinity of the girls' dormitories. He released the old a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and thanked he man for his help. The old guy merely nodded before going back to his nap.

Keiichi felt envious. He wanted to get some sleep, as well. It seemed like this day had dragged out longer than any that he could think of off the top of his head.

He got on the bike, turned the ignition, and jumped on the starter. Nothing happened. He tried it a few more times, with no success.

Great. Now he was going to have to push it all the way back to his dorm. At least it was a flat, even road the whole way.

He backed it out of the Fire Station just as the volunteers started showing up to at least help with the accident's cleanup. Part of him wanted to return to see if everyone was okay, but to especially check on Belldandy and Sora, but the other, pragmatic part of him decided that it would be better to get back home and to bed as soon as he could.

He would just talk to the girls in the morning, but after going past a bank announcing a time of 4:32 in the morning, he yawned and changed the time to whenever he had woken up for the day.

He didn't know at the time that he wouldn't see them for at least a couple days…


	6. The Spirit in the Apartment

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Special thanks go to Davner for helping me capture the feeling I wanted later in the chapter, without sounding cliché or cheesy. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Six

The Spirit in the Apartment

Sora had barely closed the door to the dorm, when someone knocked. Startled, she opened the door slightly

"Hello?" the person said, looking at her through the crack. It was a police officer, her crisp uniform unmistakable, "Miss Sora Hasegawa?"

"Yes," Sora replied, stifling a yawn before continuing, "How can I help you?"

"We've received word from the Fire Department," The officer continued, "that the structure is unsafe to be in with the damage it sustained. You'll need to be moved to the emergency facility that's being set up on campus as we speak."

'Emergency facility?' Sora had this dreadful feeling that they were going to use the Gymnasium as a temporary shelter.

"I see," Sora replied, "How long do we have to move?"

"Can you get the things you need in an hour?"

"I'll do my best."

"Thank you," The officer replied, bowing politely, "We'll see you in about an hour."

"Who was that?" Belldandy asked, curiosity evident on her face. It still amazed Sora how much Bell loved meeting new people.

"The police came by," Sora sighed, "to let us know they are evacuating us: Most likely to the Gymnasium, if my guess is right."

"Ah," the Goddess nodded, "I'll start packing."

Belldandy made a beeline towards Sora's bureau. Sora intercepted the other woman, blushing furiously as she held the drawer closed.

"I'll take care of this!" Sora squeaked. She could feel a blush creeping up her ears slowly. Hopefully Belldandy couldn't see its contents. She had bought the sheer pink nightie on a whim, and didn't really expect to wear it until she found that "someone special" that she knew would enjoy it.

With how things were going now, it didn't seem like that special someone would be appearing any time soon.

"Okay," Belldandy said before going into the kitchen. Sora released a sigh of relief, and started cramming the complete contents of the drawer into one of her duffle bags. She then proceeded to open up and use one of her travel suitcases, stuffing her pants and skirts into it as much as possible. She finished off by putting all her shirts and several of her best pairs of shoes into her large suitcase. Zipping all of them closed, she dragged them to the door, and decided to check up on Bell.

"How's it going," Sora yawned as she entered the area. She blinked, seeing how clean and organized everything was.

And where did Belldandy even get the boxes from? Sora blinked and then smacked herself in the head with the palm of her hand. The lack of sleep was affecting her to the point that she thought Belldandy was an ordinary woman.

Sora yawned again. She wished that she could just fall asleep and make her classes on time tomorrow.

"Are you okay?" Belldandy asked, "You look like you're going to pass out on the floor."

"I'll be fine," Sora replied, stifling another yawn, "Once I get some sleep, I'll be right as rain."

Belldandy didn't look convinced. She gave Sora a deep, penetrating look before frowning slightly.

The rest of the time was spent in silence: Sora had finished packing her clothing, and hoped that everything would be moved to a storage facility until the building was repaired. The hour crawled by, so it was no surprise that Sora was actually happy that the doorbell rang. She opened the door, and the police officer was with several volunteers, who helped her move her stuff into the awaiting shuttle.

"Thank you," Belldandy said to the young men, causing them to blush. Fortunately, she was now wearing a nice dress and jacket to stave off the chill breeze. If she had been in her pajamas, Sora bet the Goddess would have been proposed to by each and every one of them once they got a peep down the open top.

It made Sora feel completely insignificant.

She shook away the feeling, and focused on finding a seat in the vehicle. She dropped into the seat hard, and Belldandy took the one next to her. Sora edged herself closer to the window, and rested her head on the glass until they left the parking lot.

It was a very quiet ride, not because of the shock of what happened, but because everyone on the shuttle looked like death; not a single girl, no matter how they were dressed, they still showed signs of their exhaustion. Several nodded off only to wake up when the vehicle hit a bump or took a turn. Others still had bed head, and there were some that were still in nighties under their dressing robes.

The shuttle finally pulled into the lot, and another batch of volunteers helped them take their stuff into the Gym and over to a bed. A woman with a clipboard came over to them.

"Name," She said in a no-nonsense manner.

"Hasegawa," Sora said, "First name, Sora." The lady nodded and jotted it down before Turning to the Goddess.

"Name," She said again.

"Belldandy," Belldandy replied.

"First name or last name?" The woman asked after getting no additional information.

"Oh," Belldandy replied, glancing at Sora before replying, "First name. Last name is Hasegawa."

The woman eyed her suspiciously, then nodded and wrote the name down. Without another word, she stalked off to a group of incoming girls to repeat the whole process over.

"Charming girl," Sora said dryly. She shoved her luggage under the bed and crashed atop of it. It bounced weakly from the impact, and the squeal from the frame of the cot-like bed. She hoped she hadn't just weakened it – Sora really didn't' want to end up sleeping on the cold gym floor.

"We should get some sleep," Belldandy said, fluffing her pillow, "Good night, Sora-chan."

"Yeah," Sora replied with a yawn, "you too Bell."

She wrapped herself in the blankets and snuggled into the bed as much as possible. The pillow wasn't to her liking, but as tired as she was, it didn't really make too much of a difference. As she drifted off to sleep, she hoped that she would be able to get to her classes. She really wanted to see the live demonstration of the jet engine for all the Mechanical Engineering majors during her second class of the day.

--

"This is bad," a young girl's voice said. From the sound of it, she was typing furiously on a keyboard.

"Very," an older female's voice replied. She too sounded like she was typing furiously at a keyboard, "And it looks like it has gone 'ethereal' on us."

"A ghost in the machine?" the younger replied, her voice trembling.

"Yeah," the elder replied, "and it's wreaking havoc with the system."

"So, what do we do?"

"Same thing we do with every problem," The elder replied, "we fix it, kiddo."

"I'm not a kid!" The other said defensively. She had stopped typing on the keyboard.

"Fine. Whatever, Skuld. Just get back to work, okay?"

"Okay. And I'm not a kid, Urd!"

--

Keiichi sighed as he looked down on the remains of his passenger car. While cosmetically intact, the struts were now little more than tinfoil in looks: There were more wrinkles and small tears than he cared to count.

It was going to cost him a fortune to repair, and he didn't have that type of cash. With yet another sigh, he went to his toolbox, dug out several wrenches and screwdrivers, and set to work.

The air was cold today, but he barely noticed as he carefully removed parts not only for the bike, but the passenger car. He loved the Beemer, but the engineers had done their utmost to keep the two pieces together, even though the machine was designed to have the side car as an extra. Most likely, the design was to prevent an amateur from adding and removing the system, but it still annoyed him enough to blame it on shoddy engineering.

Why didn't they just design the thing properly the first time? They should have made it safe AND easy for people to attach or remove at whim!

Suddenly, his wrench slipped off of the bolt he had been loosening, and his knuckles slammed into the underside of one of the struts. Dropping the wrench, he yelled and clutched his hand. Sliding out from under the motorcycle, he inspected his hand in the chilly morning air. There was a huge bruise on his middle knuckle, and the rest were red and scraped.

He must have hit his hand on one of the restraining bolts. With the way the finger's joint throbbed, he was sure that his guess was spot-on. He decided that he should take a rest for a bit and ice up the damaged fingers in the warmth of this dorm before starting to disassemble the car once more.

Keiichi sat at the table with a bag of ice on his hand, wondering how much he still had left to do to remove the side car. His knuckles throbbed at the thought.

When his hand stopped throbbing so much, he put a little Hydrogen peroxide on the abraisions, taped them, and went back to finish his work. As he approached the bike, he noticed a lack of tools on the ground.

Someone had taken his tools. His father had bought them for Keiichi as a graduation present. Keiichi looked around, hoping that he might have absently placed them in the toolbox. No luck: The padlock was firmly in place, and the remaining set was still lined up in the order Keiichi put them.

He sighed again, staring at the open spots where the tools had lived. The adjustable wrench was one of the best he had: not only was it a high-grade, and had a lifetime warranty, it had a rubber casing grip that kept the tool from being too hot or too cold when using it in the weather. A part of him noted that it was almost time for its monthly oiling and cleaning, as well.

He looked up at the sky with a silent plea for help, and gave up when the tools failed to magically appear. With a frown, he grabbed the closest replacements he had on hand, and got back to work.

--

Sora had looked like an extra in a B-rated zombie movie when she had finally gotten up. Everyone in the Gym had been woken up at the same time, to be addressed by the Dean of Students about their situation. Unsurprisingly, the only one to look not only awake, but presentable was Belldandy. The Goddess had a fresh smile on her face, and she had been humming a cheerful tune as she got ready for the day in the women's locker.

Sora, however, still felt ratty and disheveled, which was made all the worse when you realized it took her twice as long to get ready as it had for Belldandy. Sometimes, she noted, life just wasn't fair.

She didn't pay any attention to the speech given by the Dean, but since he was smiling, and since Miss Mishima was with him, and she was waving as if she had won Miss Nekomi for her second year in a row, Sora could almost bet that the renovations were being done by her family, to show "goodwill to the community" or somesuch. In response, Sora merely stifled a yawn again while everyone else cheered.

She headed back over to her cot, and reached under it to grab her jacket and books. Sora was about to head to the door, when Belldandy caught her by the arm.

"Where are you going?" the Goddess asked. Sora gave her a flat look.

"I'm going to my classes," she said, feeling a bit annoyed, "Where else would I go?"

Belldandy shook her head, "The nice man speaking from the podium has declared classes to be suspended for today and tomorrow to get people housed properly."

Housed? How? The other dorms weren't as spacious as the more expensive apartment dorms that they had just been evacuated from.

That was when she noticed the same lady from yesterday approaching them.

"Miss Hasegawa," The woman said, looking at her paper, "Or should I say Mrs. Hasegawa?"

"Yes?" Sora and Belldandy said at the same time. The woman nodded and looked at her document as if it had her cues for a play.

"Interesting," she said again, and put on a pair of glasses to look at the paper better, "So the rumors were true." She flipped back and forth between the papers as if comparing items.

For some reason, Sora didn't like this paperwork in the least.

"What 'rumors?'" Belldandy asked.

"The 'rumors' stating that you and Mrs. Hasegawa are married." the lady replied, "The paperwork I have does not show this change in status, nor does it list you as any type of dependant."

_This isn't good,_ Sora thought to herself. She could feel the sweat developing on her brow as the other woman spoke.

"It also shows that the dormitory room Mrs. Hasegawa has," the lady continued, "is listed as a 'single,' meaning that there should be only one occupant."

Sora nodded. What else could she do? She and Belldandy had ruined their chances to talk themselves out of this at the start of the conversation.

"With that said," the lady sighed, shaking her head sadly, "We have no choice but to ask you to leave the gym."

"What!?" Sora said, clearly surprised. She was expecting an increase in her fee or… or something! She hadn't even thought of the possibility that they would be kicked out!

"Sorry," The lady replied, "but it is all a matter of liabilities and such. We'll allow you to stay for tonight, but that's it. Any more, and the insurance company will be breathing down our necks.

This was bad. This was _very_ bad. Where were they going to go that Sora could afford? She looked at Belldandy with a panicked expression, but the Goddess was deep in thought.

"Thank, you," Belldandy said suddenly, a solemn look on her face as she bowed, "and we apologize for any inconvenience."

Sora bowed too, hoping that this was part of some plan on Belldandy's part to ingratiate her into helping them out further.

"It is the institution that has to apologize somewhat," the woman replied, "It was not stated anywhere in the residential contract signed by Mrs. Hasegawa, so we are willing to return to you your last month's rent and the security deposit to assist you in finding a new place."

She pulled out an envelope from the bottom of the pile and offered it to Sora.

"Thank you," Sora said, bowing slightly, "and sorry again for the inconvenience."

"So, what do we do now?" Sora asked Belldandy as the woman took her leave. She was completely at a loss.

"Simple!" Belldandy replied, smiling, "We find a place to live!"

--

Several hours later, Sora collapsed onto a bench in front of the final realtor's office in town. She couldn't believe how hard it was to find cheap room and board for two people within a certain budget. Several of the realtors had laughed at them, while the rest tried to sell them on apartments that were way too out of their price range.

You'd think in a town that survived mostly by the existence of the college, they would have things that college students could afford to rent, but that was the thing: Most, if not all students lived on the campus proper while the housing was usually adjusted for the staff and faculty to live there.

She didn't want to move from the spot. She was too afraid that this final place would leave them homeless, and then she'd have to call her father.

She really didn't want to do that. She had wanted to be as independent as she could, so she wouldn't need to feel indebted to him for the rest of her life.

And now, she was going to have to beg him for money.

Belldandy had sat beside her quietly, allowing Sora to take the first step in speaking. It was kind of annoying that the other woman was so subservient, that she couldn't speak up to voice her comments or opinions.

The Goddess glanced at her form the corner of her eye, and did something Sora hadn't expected: She sighed in a defeated manner. Just as unexpectedly, Bell's face became determined, and she grabbed Sora by the hand and began leading her into the realtor's office, ignoring the protests flung at her by her captive.

"Hi," Belldandy said to the gentleman, giving him her the brightest smile Sora had seen yet, "we're looking for an apartment about six tatami mats big, close to Nekomi Tech, and I know that you have got one for us for under 500 dollars a month!"

The man was about to laugh at her, but then stopped and blinked. He looked down at his listings, adjusted his glasses, and pulled one out of the pile.

"Why, yes, indeed we do," The man said after clearing his throat and blushing, "Nice, clean room, full bath, kitchen area. It is less than ten minutes to the train station, is close to Nekomi Tech, it also has a lovely view of the sunset, and all for two hundred a month."

"Great!" Belldandy said, "We'll take it!"

The man blinked at them, surprised at the quick acceptance.

"Aren't you going to ask why it is so cheap?"

"Not really," Belldandy replied, "We need a place quickly."

"What if the apartment is haunted?" The man blushed, ashamed that he even had to mention this.

"Haunted?" Sora asked. She didn't like the sound of this.

"Yes," the man said, clearing his throat in an ashamed manner, "Nobody wants it, because the last three tenants were driven out by a ghost."

Sora felt herself pale, but Belldandy didn't show any indication that it bothered her.

"We'll still take it!" The Goddess replied, "May we please sign the lease now?"

The realtor nodded, and pulled out a stack of papers, "That'll be 700 dollars for first month's rent, last month's rent, and signing fees."

Belldandy took out the envelope, and handed it over to the man, "There is $2500 in this envelope. Could we pre-pay for eight additional months?"

"S-Sure," he stammered, "I-I'll add it to the numbers in the lease."

After signing the contract, the man gave them two sets of keys, and bowed. Returning the gesture, they made their way to their new apartment via the map the realtor gave them.

"I can't wait to see it!" Belldandy said, "It's such a quaint-looking neighborhood!"

"Quaint" wasn't the word Sora would use. While everything was neat and organized, it was so packed in with multiple buildings of the same type all around: Evidence that this was one of those pre-fabricated housing complexes that packed the maximum amount of people in the least amount of space. While this was nothing new in Japan, she had never lived that closely-packed, since she was a country girl from birth.

She looked at the map, and took the left as indicated.

Sora blinked when the dim roadway they had just turned into just as suddenly brightened once they were out of the shadow of the leftmost building. The building they seemed to be heading to was small and rustic, but not in a bad way: It had a lived-in look with earthy colors adorning its grey exterior. They approached and found an alley leading to the back. They followed it until it came to a nice, modest garden next to a small lawn of grass.

It wasn't much, but it looked like it would have a nice view at sunset, for sure. Sora looked up and determined that the sun's path lined up with all the windows to the place in such a way that there was always natural light to most of the windows in the building.

"Looks nice so far," she murmured.

"Yes, it does," Belldandy said. Sora didn't look, but she was almost certain that Belldandy was smiling. Just thinking about it was infectious: In moments, Sora was unconsciously smiling as well.

They approached the door, and Sora took out her key and tried it in the door. As she turned the key in the lock, an odd look came over Belldandy's face.

"Is something wrong?" Sora asked, concerned.

"I just thought I felt something," the Goddess replied before visibly relaxing, "but it is gone now."

Now nervous, Sora cautiously opened the door…

...And found a nice, sun-lit kitchen area awaiting them.

"It seems okay," Sora ventured.

"Indeed," Belldandy replied. She was looking around the room with equal parts curiosity, delight and caution, "It seems quite cheerful."

Sora had to agree. So far, the place far exceeded her expectations. She relaxed, and decided that this might be the perfect time for her luck to change.

"Oh, dear," Belldandy said, looking at her key, "It's not going in."

Sora went over, and tried the key herself. Sure enough, it went in, but no matter how much she wiggled and jiggled it, it would not lock or unlock the door.

"We'll have to get another one," Sora said.

"They're still open," Belldandy replied, "I'll go get one!"

Wai-" Sora began, but before she could even finish the word, Belldandy had already used the mirror to transport her to the closest mirror to the realtor's office.

Now she was alone in the apartment.

No, that wasn't right; she was alone in the _haunted _apartment.

Sora gave a nervous laugh, and opted to sit down in the middle of the main room to avoid having something jump out and scare her witless. She sat down and basically huddled there, anxiously awaiting Bell's return.

The tatami mats were uncomfortable to sit on, but she barely noticed; the hair on her arms and back of her neck felt as if it were standing on end. This sensation, added to her nervousness made the lower back of her neck feel numb and ticklish at the same time.

She shivered. She wished that Belldandy would return soon.

She thought that she heard a whisper near her left ear, but she couldn't be sure. For all she knew, her mind was playing off the growing fear.

Or that's what she believed was happening, until the doors slowly slid shut.

With a shriek, she stood up, and made her way towards the door, but her footing was off. She looked down to see the floor flexing under her. She decided to stop moving to prevent herself from breaking her neck. The door hadn't closed all the way, which made her all the more desperate to get to it. She tentatively moved a foot towards the door, which caused the floor to flex once again.

Sora had no idea what she should do. The windows were too far to reach, and the doors kept sliding closer and closer together.

Before she could act, the floor started sinking again, but this time, her feet were held firmly in place by the tatami mats. She let out a shriek, only to discover that no sound emanated from her mouth.

Panicked, she screamed over and over again, only to be met by silence. In her head she could feel her mouth and throat forming the words, and each time, the silence seemed more ominous. The tears started flowing down her eyes. The floor now felt like she was ankle-deep in natto.

_Save me! Anyone! Please!_

She banged on the floor, hearing the soft thump on the unforgiving mats as they devoured her. Sora was almost sure that there was a soft, ethereal, childish laugh echoing throughout the room. She could feel the mats shifing and changing as she struggled; they stuck to her shins like roasted marshmallow, with some of the same stretchy consistency.

Sora wanted to leave this place. Even sleeping on the street was preferable to this! She had now sunk knee-deep into the mats. They started to make a sickening wet, squelching sound like she was being put into a bowl of raw chicken. She tried to use her hand to push it away, and some of the mat came away on her fingers, enhancing the sensation even more.

It made her feel slightly queasy as she rubbed the traces of chicken-mat onto her shirt.

She was now up to her thighs, tears still streaming down her cheeks, and now her hands felt bruised and slightly rug-burnt from beating on the mats. She gave up, because the sensation reminded her too much of those times she had helped her aunt make sausage and meatloaf. She shuddered and tried moving her feet towards the door, but they barely wiggled in this horrific quagmire.

She just wanted this nightmare to end! She felt herself slipping further into the mat, she clawed at the mats, trying to pull herself away, but only succeeded in tearing her nails. One of them pulled right to the quick, and began bleeding at its edge.

She was barely aware of it; her mind had been absorbed in trying not to think of the changing sensation pulling her down and the fact that it was now up to her waist. What could she do? How was she going to escape this?

_Belldandy!_ Her voiceless mouth cried out, _Help me!_

Yet, nobody came. She was now up to her breasts in the tatami mats, and she had given up on hitting them; it seemed to do no good, anyway. The fatty sensation of the mats felt liquid and warm, yet firmly cold at the same time.

Please! She cried, voiceless as she sank faster, Someone help me! As she was saying this last, she was engulfed in the mats completely.

It felt as if she were drowning in slime; she couldn't breathe, and her mouth was full of the viscous, sticky mass. Even her nasal passages were filled, and she could feel it crawl into her lungs. The sensation was made worse by the fact that she had closed her eyes and, in the darkness, the sensation increased a hundredfold. She could feel one thin slime-like trickle trailing ahead of the rest as it slid down her throat.

For what seemed like an eternity, she was suspended in the fluid, when she was suddenly spit out. She landed on her feet, but they gave way under her, and she landed face-first on a floor.

She opened her eyes…

… And was surprised to see that she was not covered in slimy goo from head to toe. She looked around to see that she was now in a room similar to the one she had just been sucked out of, with one noticeable change: There was no door.

The room was completely sealed off from the outside world. Even the ceiling she had just been ejected from had no traces of its exit.

Sora gulped, afraid to move. What if it happened again? No – it couldn't happen again, because the point to being absorbed had very likely to get her into this room.

As if on cue, the laughing whispered around her, but this time it sounded more like her hysterical laugh earlier made worse by the thin echoing and hollow thickness blending into a disturbing resonance.

She had had enough. She wanted out, even if she had to rip a hole into the wall and dig herself out with her bare hands. Sora took a step over to a wall, and saw a red spot appear in the middle of its surface.

She took another step, and the red spot became larger. To her it looked like the wall had been stuck with a pin, and was bleeding from the hole. She leaned closer, and the bloodlike liquid squirted out of the hole, trickling down the face of it.

Venturing another step, she saw the whole wall erupt in small rivulets of blood, until the whole wall was covered. Surprisingly, the floor didn't even have a drop, even from when it had squirted out.

She gulped. It seemed like things had gotten worse. She even thought she saw chunks of meat in the flows as she attempted to touch the wall. Disgusted, she pulled her hand back, and the flow slowed down. Defeated, she retreated to the middle of the room, and she saw the flows stop to nothing, leaving nary a trace on the wall's white surface.

She tried a different wall, with the same result, then the other and the final wall, as well. She stifled a sob, and tried to call out again, with the same results as before. Still voiceless, she looked frantically for some other way to escape. What if she tried the floor? With a shudder, she decided that that was definitely not an option.

She felt caged. To her, the laughter had deepened, resonating in a dirge-like mantra.

And that's when she felt something brush against her neck.

She turned, and nothing was there.

She felt it on her arm this time. Pulling her arm away from where she thought the touch had come from, she unconsciously backed into one of the walls, and felt the flow of blood ooze down the back of her sweater. She shrieked wordlessly, and returned to the center of the room.

The moment she was away from the wall, the liquid had disappeared.

Terrified, she looked around at random, trying to prevent herself from being caught unawares. Frantically she turned left then at the last minute, spun to the right and looked behind her.

And that's when she saw him; a big, hulking figure with white hair and marks under his eyes.

He reminded her of a feral beast. Had she really been looking, she would have seen the shock on his face.

But she hadn't seen it; all she could see was someone who appeared to be preparing to grab her from behind and, more than likely murder her.

She had taken all she could handle. With an intake of breath, she felt the world go black as she crumpled to the floor.


	7. Roommates and Fanboys

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Seven

Roommates and Fanboys

"Excuse me?" The ghost said, gently touching Sora's shoulder, "Miss?" he shook the shoulder, wondering if the girl was okay. She had collapsed as if she had died of a heart attack. He hadn't wanted that; he had just wanted to be left alone to wallow in his own self-pity, so he had tried to scare the girl out of his home.

Yet, why had she fainted? He had done worse before – even having to resort to shocking those too stubborn to leave when he hinted. He had been working up to it, if she hadn't run when he opened the door…

But she had seen him. Somehow, she had been able to see him when he should have been invisible.

Just who on earth was she?

"Miss?" he tried again. This time, the response was a snore.

He didn't know if he should be relieved or angry. Deciding to do both, he gave her a small shake while holding both shoulders and yelling at her.

"Wake up, woman!" he hollered "You simple, foolish… Simple woman!"

It sounded pathetic once he spoke it, and he felt bad that he didn't have better speaking skills, so he growled and shook her shoulders a bit rougher, but not too much.

"Hey! Wake up!" he said as loud as he could.

That's when the mirror began to glow.

In seconds, he was pinned to the wall by a binding spell. Whoever this is, she was strong. She had a look of someone with power to spare and, from the disapproving glare she gave him, wasn't afraid to use it.

He involuntarily swallowed.

"Leave this place," He said as haughtily as he could.

"No."

That was it. A simple word, yet there was more authority in this whisper than if he had shouted at the top of his lungs.

He realized he was in trouble.

"Who," he said, swallowed and began again, "Who are you?"

"I am the Goddess Belldandy, First Class, Unlimited."

Her voice. Something in her voice made him wish that he could run halfway across the world – no, the _galaxy_ – to escape her.

"Mistress," he whispered, bowing as best as he could with his body immobilized, "Forgive me for my behavior."

The Goddess Belldandy stood there motionless, her back as straight as the axis of the world, and as unmoving. She gave him no response, except that glare.

And what a glare: It could freeze and burn the ice caps in an instant and melt and shatter a desert with a blink.

He was definitely afraid that his life was going to be cut very short, very soon.

Surprisingly, the Goddess's face softened, and he felt his bonds release. He looked questioning at the woman with the hard blue eyes.

"Now," Belldandy said, taking a seat next to Sora, extending a hand out to the girl's forehead, "I want you to tell me exactly what's happened here. All of it: From why you are haunting this place to what you have done to her."

He nodded and sat beside the Goddess with his head bowed in submission.

"I am an Earth Spirit, Third Class…"

--

Sora blinked open her eyes, trying to clear the blurriness away. She absently felt her face to discover that her glasses were gone. Her hand twinged a little, but she didn't know why. She probably had hit it when she had fainted.

But, why had she fainted in the first place? Her mouth had a paste-like taste to it, as if she had been sleeping for quite some time. Her tongue felt like sandpaper, which only confirmed her suspicion.

She reached up and rubbed her eyes, which came slightly into better focus now that she was more awake. She could make out a light brownish blur, and guessed it was Belldandy checking up on her.

"Oh, good," the voice said, confirming it was indeed Belldandy, "I was afraid you were still hurt, and I had missed something."

Suddenly the world came into better focus, with Belldandy's hand obscuring part of her vision. The goddess had placed her glasses back onto her face.

"Thanks," Sora said, feeling a little flushed. It still felt weird that Belldandy treated her more intimately than anyone in her family ever did. Maybe it had something to do with being a Goddess, or maybe just a difference in culture: Whatever it was, Sora was grateful for it, even while being embarrassed.

Bell smiled at her and she felt like smiling, as well…

…Until she saw the face that had caused her to faint in the first place. With a shriek, she clutched Belldandy and somehow positioned herself behind the Goddess.

"Him!" She said, pointing an accusatory finger over Belldandy's shoulder, "_You bastard!_ You scared the shit out of me!" It wasn't quite the ladylike response she should have given, but considering the circumstances, she felt justified.

"I am very sorry to have troubled you," The monstrous specter replied, bowing from his kneeling position: a sign of utmost forgiveness and submission.

Sora blinked before looking at Belldandy for clarification. She didn't dare remove herself from behind the Goddess's protection, though.

"Meet Erdgeist," she said, motioning her hands as if she were a presenting hostess on a game show, "Earth Spirit Third Class, Limited."

"Hello?" Sora squeaked, still perplexed.

"If it pleases you," Erdgeist began, still prone, "I beg your forgiveness for my previous behavior. I went too far, and regret all that I did. I am a very bad spirit."

That speech had all the ear-markings of being scripted by Belldandy. Oddly, she found that she couldn't be too mad at him, especially since the Goddess had healed most of her hurts. It still pained her to see her fingernails so broken though: It had taken her forever to get them to a feminine length, and now she was going to have to restart the process all over again.

Wait – She should be furious! He had terrified her worse than any cheesy B-movie horror series ever could, and she was terrified of _ALL_ of them! She scowled and was about to yell at him, but stopped with her mouth open.

Her mind worked. Belldandy was not furious with this guy. She was a Goddess, and could see people's feelings as colors. She looked at the penitent Earth Spirit. Bell could see his feelings, so it was very likely that he was indeed repentant. She gave the poor guy the benefit of the doubt, and decided to listen to him before smiting him with her divine justice.

"You have one chance," Sora said, crossing her arms over her chest and putting on her best scowl, "Spill it."

The Spirit nodded, and began to speak. He told her about being a spirit in this place for over five hundred years, guarding this place that used to be a quiet hilly area with nothing more than several small monkey species and a few ruined buildings form an abandoned settlement. As he went on, she could almost see the world through his eyes from the crisp descriptions and the love he put into finding the most elegant way to describe his world.

She hated to admit it, but she found herself interested in every word he spoke.

"And then ten years ago," He continued, his voice getting softer and sadder, "Someone put an iron rod into the ground. It went right into my ley-line, and I have been hobbled to this small place and weakened ever since."

"So that's why you'd scare off potential renters," Sora said, feeling the more enlightened of the situation. She nodded sympathetically and walked over to him, "You didn't want to have to deal with those that had weakened you."

"Yes, I-" He began, but never finished.

"DIVINE JUDGEMENT!" Sora screamed, stomping on his hand with her slipper, the bone of her heel landing full impact on his pinky.

"OW!" Erdgeist screamed, changing to a sitting position while holding his hand, "What did you do that for?!?"

"You call yourself a guardian," Sora said, her voice increasing in volume as she spoke, "and yet you scared everyone away. Every. Single. One. People who just wanted to live a simple life, with expectations of having a pleasant life in this small apartment... Maybe marry and have kids or already in that situation. And you squashed those dreams! All of them!"

She bent at the waist and looked him in the eye. He looked like he was going to flee, but he held his ground.

"You could have helped them, and lived a happy life doing something better. By being something better. And what did you do? You sulked like a little baby!"

The words seemed to have shocked him; he looked at her with his mouth open to defend himself, but after a moment of contemplation and dawning realization, he closed it, and looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Well, this isn't going to happen again!" She screamed at him, her hands on her waist, as she pushed her face closer to his, "Not on my watch!"

Erdgeist gulped and nodded before absently putting his injured digit in his mouth.

The image made him look even more childish. Hiding her embarrassment at seeing such a weak gesture from the Spirit, she cleared her throat and lowered her voice.

"Don't ever do it again," she said, turning her head away, yet still eying him from the corner of her eye, "understand?"

"Yes, Mistress Sora," he answered, bowing as best as he could with his pinky in his mouth. He wasn't going to get away this easy though; Sora straightened and put on a pensive look.

"So, as punishment," Sora continued, tapping her chin in a thoughtful way, "you will have to do all the chores on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."

"Yes, mistress," he replied, "For how long must I do this?"

"For as long as you live here," She answered. He made to protest, but she held out a hand to forestall him, "You have never paid rent and so you must do your fair share, as well."

Erdgeist thought about it for a moment before nodding reluctantly. He really was getting let go of easily, but the punishment did fit the crime. Sora knew it was better than if Belldandy were to pass judgement: The Goddess would have simply repaired the ley line and told him to never do it again, while smiling.

"I'm glad to see you agree," The Goddess said, getting up from the floor and smoothing her dress, "I had asked him to live with us once I had repaired the ley-line for him."

Sora sighed. For someone she had known for such a short time, she had to admit Belldandy was an incredibly predictable person.

Suddenly, her stomach growled, and she blushed. She saw that the natural light was dimmer now and a bit reddish, so it must be close to sunset.

"Yes, it has been a while since lunch," Belldandy said, "We should go get something before the shops close."

"With what money?" Sora asked as she looked into her wallet. All she had was ten dollars and some change to her name. With luck, they could buy some cup ramen, even though they didn't have anything to heat it in.

"With this!" Bell said, pulling out several dozen coupons. As I was on my way home, I decided to walk to get more familiar with the neighborhood, and all the marketers gave me these!"

Sora looked at all of them with wonder. After all of them were used, she would still have about three dollars left, and they could eat like queens.

Well, two queens and a king, unless ErdGuy liked that kind of thing…

She stopped that line of thinking. True, the Spirit had made a terrible first impression, but he didn't deserve that. If Bell could forgive him, she might be able to, as well.

"Okay," she conceded, "We'll go get some food. ErdGuy, you stay here and… Um... Guard stuff."

"It's Erdgeist," the spirit replied. He looked slightly annoyed.

"Whatever. Just don't scare anyone until we get back!"

ErdDude nodded, so she and Belldandy went out to get some supper.

--

Keiichi sat in his room replacing the bandages on his knuckles. They still smarted if he flexed them wrong, yet he had to keep working to get his Beemer back on the road.

To his dismay, there had been a lot more done to the bike; once he pulled off the support struts for the side car, he saw hairline fractures in the frame. One of these cracks went all the way to the main chassis support for the motor. He could fix it, but it was going to take a lot of time to remove the parts and replace them with new ones form a junkyard.

He had thought about just welding the fractures together, but not only would that scar the bike horribly, it wouldn't be safe. If there was just a crack on one of the support bars, he could have reinforced it with a small piece of rebar on each side and then welded them in place till he could get a new support made.

The problem was the engine. The torque the thing generated needed to be quelled by the frame, and now that the frame was so delicate, it was likely to shatter under any stress put on it.

Keiichi finished the bandaging, but he still didn't know what he could do to save the bike. With a sigh, he put his tools back into the toolbox, and locked them up. He should go use the library to see if anyone had any old frames for sale, and try to save up for one of the more moderately-priced ones.

"Morisato!" Tamiya hollered from his upper room, waving when Keiichi looked over at him, "Supper's here!"

"Thanks!" Keiichi replied, waving back. He appreciated the gesture, and made his way up to the common room.

He got in line, and grabbed a few pieces of pizza before retreating to his room. He put the pieces of pizza on his kotatsu sat on the floor, and turned on his TV with the remote. From the look of it, there was a marathon on tonight for _Battlestar Galactica_, an American show he remembered seeing reruns of as a kid that had been redone with a whole new story. On the screen, a tall blonde woman and a short brunette man were talking philosophy while making eyes at each other.

_Good luck_, Keiichi thought, and meant it. He wished that he could have that confidence with a woman taller than he was.

Or, at least, one certain woman: He idly put Sayoko in the blonde's role, and him in place of the guy, and then promptly stomped the image down. He and Sayoko were completely different creatures, it seemed, so why was he so attracted to her? He munched miserably on his pizza as the two started making out.

Annoyed, he turned off the TV. He started in on another piece of pizza, when he heard the commotion from the common room. Curious, he made his way out to see what was going on.

"Didja see dat?"Otaki whooped, spraying small bits of pizza all over the carpet. He was punching the air repeatedly.

"It was so great!" Tamiya replied. He looked to be crying, "So wonderful! IT had to be the best maneuver I ever saw!"

Keiichi looked at the screen to see two small ships crashing into some sort of landing bay before another blonde came on screen and started explaining the scene.

"Starbuck is so cool," Tamiya said, looking at the girl on the screen and blushing, "She's the best!"

"She's not as good as Boomer!" Otaki retorted, slamming his hand on the coffee table, "She's got that erotic look that makes you say 'Hell yes!' and that serious look with those lips…"

"You're full of it!" Otaki said, "It's definitely gotta be Starbuck!"

"Boomer!"

"Starbuck!"

At this point, Keiichi decided to retreat outside. When the seniors got like this, there was nobody that could deter them. Even outside, he could hear them arguing over which character was better.

He had thought about 'going to check on' Sora and Belldandy, but opted not to, simply because so many girls in one place were likely to take his intentions the wrong way, and with his luck, he'd end up opening the door to a makeshift changing room and get mauled for it.

It was definitely better to just avoid the place at all cost.

He was tempted to continue working on the Beemer, but before he could put the plan into execution, a truck pulled up next to him.

"Hi!" the guy behind the wheel said over the sound of the diesel motor, "Could you help this kid unpack? I threw out my back loading the darned thing!"

"Sure," Keiichi said, and motioned that he was going towards the back. The engine died, and the driver appeared a short bit after, his hand on the small of his back. He was slightly bent over, and fumbling with his keys with his other hand. As he grabbed the right key, another person came to the back of the truck from the passenger side. He was wearing a cloak and something that appeared to be a costume of some type.

"Greetings and felicitations!" the new person said, "I am on a mission and seek lodging!"

Keiichi was stupefied. The wind had twisted the cloak open, and the guy was normally dressed…

… With the addition of a gold codpiece and leather pants.

Keiichi blinked again, swallowed, and tried to speak.

"Hi," Keiichi finally said. He put out a hand and the other took it. His hand felt tacky and somewhat gritty, so he looked at it under the light.

His hand was coated in a thin coating of some sort of cheesy coating from a chip. Keiichi tentatively sniffed and realized it was Nacho Cheese powder, very likely from one of those tortilla chip companies.

How much of the stuff did the kid eat to get so dirty? Keiichi shook the thought off before it made him ill.

The driver finally opened the back and moved a little away, "There you go!" he smiled, "all of the boxes are all in the back, so we'll have to unload and reload the rest when we're done!"

"Thanks for the help," the kid said. He hadn't seen much of the kid under the cloak, so he didn't know how old he was. Was he a freshman? Was he a transfer from another school? He didn't sound like a foreigner, so an exchange program was out of the question. The voice wasn't a good identifier, either; Keiichi thought the kid spoke through his nose, which also increased the pitch of the voice, making him sound like he had barely reached puberty.

"No problem," Keiichi replied with a smile. They unloaded all the boxes, then started to put them back in as per the driver's instructions, leaving a small mound of odd-sized boxes near the door to the dorm.

"Thanks again, son!" the driver said. Keiichi thought the man must be hard of hearing, since he seemed to yell everything. He bowed, and handed Keiichi a five.

"It was nothing," Keiichi said, refusing the money, "I was glad to help."

"Keep it," the man said, stuffing it in his jacket's pocket, "Go get a beer or some cigarettes on me." Before Keiichi could protest, the driver had closed the door, rolled up his window, and drove off.

"Cheapskate," The kid frowned, glaring at the cash. Keiichi just shrugged and stuffed the money in his pocket. _I might as well save it for an emergency,_ he thought.

"Anyway," the kid continued, "My name is Hoshi Furinji."

"Keiichi Morisato," he said offering his hand, which the kid took. To Keiichi's dismay, it was still coated in a film of nacho cheese powder. Somehow, Keiichi kept from grimacing.

"Since you were a big help," The kid continued, "I'll let you call me by the name I was given by my English-speaking friends, but it's only between us, got it? That name is 'Roberto.'"

"Roberto?" Keiichi asked, confused. Why Roberto?

"Yep! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Before Keiichi could digest this new 'revelation', the rest of the dorm had started to come out the doors. Each one grabbed a box, and went inside with a nod to the new person as they went back in.

"Morisato," Tamiya said, edging his way past a box-laden Otaki, "I'm glad to see you meet your new dorm mate."

"You knew he was coming?" Keiichi asked, a little annoyed, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were out the past few nights," Tamiya said dryly, "You know, wandering around town? Causing accidents?"

"I did _not_ cause the accident!" Keiichi replied, annoyed.

"What happened to the Beemer, then?" Tamiya replied, his arms crossed across his chest. For some reason, this hurt to his own machine seemed to bother Tamiya and Otaki more than it did him.

Before he could speak though, Tamiya continued, "As I was saying: You weren't around, so we figured you'd learn about it when he arrived."

It still felt odd to be getting a new person so long after the semester started, but he had seen it happen, depending on family circumstances. Maybe this kid had been doing all the pre-assigned work before he got here? It didn't matter too much, as long as the kid was able to pass his classes.

They each grabbed one of the remaining three boxes and headed inside. When they got to the rooms, all of the other doors but his had been closed.

With dread, Keiichi looked into his room.

There were boxes everywhere. Some were balanced so precariously, that they looked as if they would topple in an instant.

He closed his mouth and blinked. Who was it that thought that this was a good idea?

As if on cue, Tamiya began to explain.

"The rest of us decided," He said, gesturing to Hoshi, "That you needed a new roommate."

"When the hell did you decide this!?" he said, gesturing to the room, "I have the smallest room in the whole damned dorm!"

"You should have been at the meeting," Tamiya calmly replied, "And then you would've had your say."

_Like Hell!_ Keiichi thought, _I would've been forced to have him as a roommate against my will!_

He kept silent though: He didn't want to cause any chaos in the dorm, and he definitely didn't want to have Hoshi think that he was selfish, either. Somehow he was going to have to make this work.

"Welcome to Nekomi Tech," he said, trying to smile as best as he could under the circumstances.

"Thanks, Roomie," Hoshi smiled, taking his hand once more, to Keiichi's dismay, "I hope this'll be the best year ever!"

As Keiichi broke the handshake, he excused himself to the bathrooms so he could wash his hands. How were they going to fill all that stuff into that small room? It baffled him, and he could almost bet he was going to have to pack up most of his stuff to make room for the newcomer.

That wasn't going to happen. He was going to stand firm and tell his roommate politely that if they were going to live with the roommate's stuff, they could just as easily live with his, as well.

He made his way back to the room, and was surprised to see that several of the boxes had already been put in the hall for disposal. He looked in, expecting stuff everywhere, but instead, he found the corners had been neatly rearranged, and several displays had been put up that looked to be about the size of the boxes in the hall.

Hoshi had opened another box, and was taking out a model of a ship. Looked closer and saw the original Galactica as a two and a half foot replica in one hand, with a stand being pushed into it in another.

Keiichi understood now. This was Hoshi's beloved collection and, where he went, it went. It seemed the other boxes would be used to fill the displays in the corners. The idle thought of "Otaku Feng Shui" came to his mind and he stomped it down: It would not do to laugh at his new roommate.

Realizing it was late, Keiichi yawned and offered to sleep on the sofa in the lounge so his new roommate could finish putting out his stuff. Keiichi didn't offer to help for fear that anything he touched could cause his new roommate to have an aneurism. With the number of boxes left and how slowly and lovingly Hoshi was handling each piece, he knew that the newcomer would be organizing them for the rest of the night.

Keiichi just hoped that Hoshi didn't have any large dioramas using that scaled model, or there would be very little room to sleep. The thought of having to almost spoon with Hoshi made him shiver.

He curled up on the sofa and tried to get comfortable, but it was a was a wasted effort – the sofa was old and lumpy and, the one time he had fallen asleep on it, he had woken up with a stiff back and pains in all his joints.

Keiichi finally fell asleep, dreaming of being chased by cloaked figures chasing after him with their nacho-cheese-coated hands reaching towards him.


	8. Sexy Sister Strikes!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Eight

"Sexy Sister" Strikes!

Belldandy was in the back yard singing quietly when Sora awoke. She lifted her hands to the sky and changed the octave in emphasis. To Sora, it seemed as if the mist emanating from Belldandy's lips changed colors each time, each seemingly dancing in tune as they curled away from the Goddess and evaporated. ErdGeist was sitting next to Bell; he seemed entranced by the singing because his eyes never left her, and his look was that of a loyal puppy.

Sora walked over, yawned, and leaned an arm on top of ErdGuy's head to listen. Not long after, Belldandy's voice trailed off and looked at the two of them, smiling.

"Good morning," she smiled, "I almost have breakfast ready." Sora nodded; she could smell the eggs warming in the oven and the hint of miso mixing with them made her stomach start to rumble.

"Smells great," she replied, "I'll get the table ready."

"I already did that," ErdGeist said, idly trying to flick Sora's arm away. In response, she leaned on the arm a little, causing the Earth spirit to sputter a protest. After a moment, Sora relented and released the pressure she had been putting on the Spirit's head.

"Thanks," she replied, following after Belldandy. The Goddess had already taken the eggs out of the oven, and was dishing the miso soup into bowls. She took the food to the table, placing a bowl and plate in front of Sora before moving on to doing the same for the Spirit.

"Sorry we didn't have any mackerel," Belldandy said sorrowfully, "And they didn't deliver the remainder of the kitchen set to make rice."

"It's fine," Both Sora and ErdGeist said simultaneously. Sora glared at the Spirit, who retreated behind another mouthful of egg.

"I should have prepared some yesterday," She sighed, "It is easier to warm up than the rest."

"Really, it's fine, Bell," Sora said, smiling. The portions that had been made were more than enough for her, but she didn't know about ErdGeist's needs. He seemed to be content, so she continued, "You can't expect everything to go smoothly." She then remembered that this was a Goddess that she was talking to and quickly added, "At least, not on Earth."

The Spirit nodded his agreement, and Belldandy sighed, her disappointment evident even though there was a hint of relief in her eyes. Bell sat down to eat breakfast with them.

They ate quietly, mostly because everyone was still tired from getting all of Sora's possessions delivered by the college the previous day organized into their new spots. Sora didn't think she had that much, but apparently the stuff hadn't been as noticeable when it had been unpacked by her family.

"I might be home late," Sora said, eying Belldandy, "because there is a Motor Club meeting today."

"Would you like for me to come pick you up?" Bell inquired, putting her fork on her plate, "I could bring a drink or something, as well."

"Not today," Sora answered quickly. Granted, she knew that Tamiya, Otaki and the rest knew about their marriage, but she didn't want Belldandy anywhere near them until she somehow convinced them that the Goddess wasn't a potential as either an asset or personnel they could work to the bone.

"Ah," Belldandy said, the disappointment really plain on her face. It took all of Sora's willpower not to give in to the look and allow her to go.

"Sorry, Bell," She replied, "It really is for the best that I talk to them, before they get ideas."

Belldandy simply nodded once before she continued eating.

Sora sighed. She really hoped Bell would understand her precautions once she met this group. She finished her breakfast and went to change. When she came back, Belldandy handed her a box lunch.

"Have a good day," The Goddess said, blushing. Sora threw a quick smile and a wave to Belldandy before mussing ErdGeist's hair on her way past him still kneeling at the table sipping tea. She couldn't wait for the rest of her stuff to arrive later tonight, so they could sit in proper chairs again; her knees and ankles ached slightly from not sitting that way in a long, long time.

She closed the door and headed off to class. Hopefully the classes would go smoothly – sometimes the teachers liked to spring surprise quizzes on students after events like this; she had heard from an upper classman that a few years ago during a blizzard, when classes had been cancelled for three days due to power outages and broken pipes, that the first thing her professors had done was give them not only surprise quizzes, but extra homework as well. The thought made her pray that this time would be the exception to the rule.

--

Keiichi had woken up with a crick in his neck, which made the rest of the day seem to drag by. He didn't want to go to the Motor Club today, but he knew that if he missed the meeting, he would be forced to do whatever he had been "nominated" for as a task. He didn't think he was the best driver, and his engineering skills still need polishing, yet they always put him in charge of that stuff. He wanted to be the one doing the general repairs, refueling or tire changes, yet they never nominated him for these tasks.

Maybe today, he'd get to voice his opinion and do these for a change. Maybe he could also be the one in the passenger's side for the relay for once? It was a nice hope, but he could almost bet that it was going to be Tamiya or Otaki in that place yelling at him to just speed up, and he'd have to remember the course without them giving him the proper pointers.

The thought made him wince. He decided that he shouldn't think so hard on it, or he'd probably give himself grey hairs at an early age: Whatever was going to happen was not going to be something he enjoyed.

He went to check his mailbox and found to his surprise, not only the usual monthly allowance from home, but also a package in a plain brown envelope with his name and addresd. It had no return address, which made him think it might have been a bomb at first. He shook it lightly, and he thought he heard the wheels from inside a tape sliding back and forth. Hopefully it wasn't a prank from the seniors, either.

Stuffing the tape into his jacket, he decided to check it out once he got to the Motor Club. If he arrived before anyone else, he could watch it through with no interruptions.

"Kei-Kun!" Hoshi yelled, huffing down the hall toward him. He stopped in front of Keiichi, holding his knees with his hands, gulping in air in huge, wheezing gasps. When he finally regained his composure, he straightened and looked at him.

"Yes?" Keiichi said, a little nervous. He didn't like how Hoshi was being so familiar with him after knowing him for barely a day, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," The boy said in between heaving gasps, "I just wanted you to have this."

Hoshi handed Keiichi something that looked like money, but was definitely not any currency he had ever seen. It had odd symbols on it, and a couple of space ships, as well.

"If you spend it online," Hoshi replied, "You can get all kinds of stuff! That's how I got my replica 'vintage' Galactica for a song!"

"That's nice," Keiichi said, dusting more nacho cheese off of the "money" before putting it in his pocket next to the tape, "I'm sure it will come in handy. Thanks again."

He politely excused himself, and made his way to the Motor Club, hoping that nobody else had decided to use the place before him.

--

Sora had made it through the classes with no incidents. Nobody had given any surprise tests, nor had any of the teachers shown ruthlessness in how much homework they gave; it all seemed like a normal day.

For some reason, she was just waiting for the other slipper to drop.

Lost in her funk, she almost crashed into Sayoko, but at the last moment had barely missed her by stepping off the sidewalk.

"I'm sorry," Sora said, bowing. She looked up to see the Heiress frown at her, and proceeded on her way as if nothing happened.

Sora didn't know if she should feel relieved or annoyed at the gesture. To compromise, Sora quickly stuck her tongue out at Sayoko's retreating figure before continuing on her way to get lunch at home.

Suddenly, she saw Keiichi coming around the corner. She waved, and he waved back, his smile growing as he approached.

"I'm glad to see you're okay," Keiichi said, stuffing his hands back into his coat, "I saw the guy hit the dorm, but couldn't go back because my bike got banged up when I hit the curb."

"Are you okay?" She asked, and he nodded. "That's good at least. We can worry about getting the bike fixed up again in no time, you, however, would not have been so lucky."

Keiichi looked as if he were going to disagree with her about his own worth, so she decided to alter the conversation back to the bike.

"So, the damage to the bike isn't too bad, right?"

"Yeah," he said, noncommittally, "I don't think it'll take too much to fix if I can get the parts online, but the problem lies with cash, or rather, the lack thereof."

"That's bad," Sora said, looking up at him. She wished she could do something to help the boy out for all that he's ever done for her. She'd have to ask Belldandy about it when she got home.

"It's been worse," Keiichi shrugged, his hands still in his jacket pockets, "I will just need to take public transport until I can get this paid for."

"Still," Sora countered, "I want to help. I just need to check my monthly allotment when it comes in."

"It's okay," Keiichi said, putting up his hand when he saw her about to protest, "I just need to get a part time job to pay for it, and I'll be all set."

He didn't sound convincing, but what else could she do? She just agreed to keep him from being so defensive.

"Anyway," He said, lifting his watch to his face, "I need to get going. I'll see you at the Club later."

"Yeah," She said woodenly, "See you later."

With that, the boy was off. Sora decided she should go home. Belldandy would have a better idea of what could be done to help Keiichi get his bike fixed sooner than he expected.

--

Keiichi sighed with relief when he saw that the Motor Club was empty. He closed the door behind him and locked it, afraid that someone might barge in on him. He still wondered what the tape was; was it a bonus from an old magazine subscription? Maybe his luck had finally improved, and the package he now held in his hand contained the grail of all grails: _The Star Wars Christmas Special_ in higher-quality than the degraded spoofs that could be found on YouTube. He took off his jacket, and dropped it onto the chair as he headed over to the TV.

Anxious, he ripped open the package and saw…

"'Sexy Sister?'" he said, perplexed. It sounded like some taboo pornography that can be found in some of the more "questionable" shops in the outskirts of town.

Still: He should check it out, just to be sure of what it was. If it was too dirty, he could just eject the tape and that would be that.

With nervous hands, he turned on the television and tape player then proceeded to play the tape.

What he saw was somewhat what he expected to see: the camera started at the high-heeled feet of a woman, slowly and tantalizingly going towards her face.

"Hi!" a sultry voice sang from the television. Keiichi gulped not only from the voice, but from the way the camera hovered at the point right before showing the woman's panties – if she wore any that is. The leg moved, bending so that it could be completely visible in the shot.

"Like what you see?" the girl in the video inquired. Keiichi gulped and nodded, knowing full well that the person in the television couldn't see him.

"Is that so?" The female voice said, the leg turning towards the camera, "Well, here I come!"

The leg slowly moved towards the camera, and Keiichi found himself moving towards the TV for a better view. Whoever it was that owned the well-toned, sexy leg must really want people to see it, so why shouldn't he oblige? He could feel the sweat building on his brow as the foot came closer to the screen…

…And pushed through it, a thin blue line glowed where the leg and the television met. He screamed in surprise, pushing himself away from the TV and backing himself to the wall. If he could only find one of the screwdrivers, or the monkey wrench with which to defend himself, he'd be happy, yet he didn't dare look away: The last thing he needed was to be sucked into the video by Sawako!

Torn between running, staring at the screen and finding defense, he heard a soft laugh emanate from the television. It wasn't a fiendish laugh, but it did have a hint of mischief-making to it. The leg pulled back into the television, to be replaced by the face of an incredibly exotic woman with a mischievous smirk.

"Ah," the woman said, satisfied. Upon closer inspection, Keiichi could see the woman had silvery-white hair and emerald green eyes that sparkled in the sun. He found this odd, because there was no sunlight shown in the television – only that glinting off the TV itself.

"Hello!" The woman said, her voice somehow getting silkier, "Could you give me a hand over here? I promise I won't bite."

To Keiichi, who had seen a lot of bad horror films, this was exactly what the dangerous demon would say to get him to lower his guard and get devoured.

"Well? Aren't you going to give a lady a hand?" This time, the woman sounded a bit peeved, like she was scolding a child. Feeling self-conscious, he unconsciously went over to help her.

"Good. Good," she said, watching him edge closer, "Now, stop right there and keep watching the screen. I'll let you know how you can help me in a moment."

Keiichi gulped and nodded once in affirmation. The woman started to crawl closer to the TV in a rather sensuous manner.

It also didn't hurt that her kimono slipped a little, exposing a bit more of her voluptuous breasts.

He gulped again. Suddenly, the woman's hands reached out, and tenderly cupped his face. He was frozen in place. He was going to die, but the warm, sensuous feeling made him think that it might be worth it.

"That's it," the silvery-haired lady whispered, her face coming closer to the screen. Within seconds, the shapely face appeared out of the TV, a hint of a smile on the corner of her lips, "Now, come closer."

Keiichi was wondering if she was going to suck his soul out of his body, leaving only a withered husk in its passing. Looking at those shaped lips made him decide that his soul would be a worthy price to pay.

She was incredibly close to him now. She puckered her lips subtly, and Keiichi unconsciously mimicked her. He closed his eyes, preparing for this first, deadly kiss.

Suddenly, he felt himself pulled towards her, and felt her lips press against his cheek. She blew out her mouth, making a farting sound loudly against his cheek. Keiichi pulled away quickly, opening his eyes wide in surprise as he clenched the spot with his hands.

The woman was now laughing loudly, pounding a fist on the floor as she did so. She was still halfway in the TV set, and seemed to have forgotten this.

"Oh, that was rich!" She said, still pounding the floor as she laughed, "You should have seen the look on your face!"

The laughing woman made Keiichi want to shove her back into the television. After a few more moments of her laughing, he had had enough. He put his hand on her forehead, and gave a push.

"That's it!" he said giving her another shove. She held onto the sides of the TV, "Back in you go!"

"Hey!" she complained. Her knuckles paled as they gripped harder on the set, "What's the matter with you? Can't take a joke?"

"It wasn't funny!" he said, releasing his grip and moving aside. The force the woman had been using to keep herself from going into the set propelled her out of the TV. She crashed on the floor, "_That_, however, was hilarious!" He finished.

The woman glared at him. She stood up nonchalantly, dusted herself off, and crossed her arms indignantly. He gave her a satisfied smile, and stuffed his hands in his pockets: It was the most arrogant gesture he could think of in response.

The woman grew more annoyed with each passing moment. To add fuel to the fire, he decided to make his smirk grow bigger with each change in her reaction.

Before he knew it, he was on the floor, and he felt as if all his hair was standing on end.

"What the-" he didn't finish, because she came over to him and grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to a sitting position. His arms and legs tingled, and seemed to twitch on their own.

"Not. Funny." She growled, staring at him. He gulped, but looked her in the eyes without backing down, "Next time, I'll fry you like tempura."

"So, you're the only one that can mess with people?" Keiichi countered, "That seems to be a double-standard to me."

The woman looked like she was going to counter, but seemed to realize that what he said did make sense. She stood there with her mouth open for a moment before closing it with a grimace.

"Fine!" she said, letting him go. He got up and rubbed his arms to get rid of the tingling. He wished he knew why that had happened to him.

He stopped rubbing his arms. He was about to say something to her, but stopped.

There was a huge smoldering scorch mark in the carpet where he had been standing.

Keiichi realized what had happened: Somehow, this woman had electrocuted him, and hadn't killed him in the process. The strength he had regained left just as suddenly. His legs felt wobbly, and a slight sensation of nausea that was slowly increasing told him that he was starting to feel more afraid than he had ever been in his life.

He couldn't speak, but fortunately, she wasn't either; she had sat down on the timeworn sofa and was absently beating one of the pillows with her fist. He couldn't see her face, but he was certain she was frowning and imagining his face as each hit landed.

Suddenly, she took the pillow, tossed it onto the couch, and laid down on it.

Keiichi blinked. He hadn't expected this to happen. He gulped, regained some of his previous courage, and went around to the front of the couch while ignoring the big scorch mark. He looked down at her and was going to continue the argument where it left off, but decided against it when he caught a hint of smoke from his peripheral vision.

What did she want? More importantly: Why, after being hit by an unearthly stun gun wasn't he shaking in his boots more? He pushed the thought down, hoping that it was because he was on one of those adrenaline rushes that they always seemed to use in anime; he needed any help that he could get.

She had her eyes closed and her hands were now resting behind her head, clearly using this body language to pointedly ignore his approach. He decided to size her up before deciding his next course of action. She had come out of the television, raspberried and electrocuted him, and was now apparently sulking on the couch. He stared at her face for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and looked at her again more closely.

There was something familiar about the woman each time he looked at her.

It suddenly hit him: She reminded him of Belldandy for some reason.

"Excuse me," he said, watching her turn to look at him, "is there any chance you are related to Belldandy?"

"Yes," she said, tersely, "She's my sister."

"I knew it!" he said. This seemed to surprise the lady.

"Really?" she said, blinking in disbelief before sitting up, "How?"

"I can't really explain it," he shrugged, "but even though you seem completely different, there's a lot of her in you."

The look on the Goddess's face was stuck halfway between the surprise of being found out, and happiness at the comparison. Maybe this was Bell's younger sister? True, her hair was white, but with the things he had seen that one time going to Akihabara, the sky was the limit as far as hair styles go.

She got up from the couch and walked over to him, giving him an appraising look as she did so. Without warning, she quickly grabbed hold of him, and started rubbing her cheek against his like he had seen on several anime.

"Aww," She said, "So cute!" She started swirling a finger on his chest in a playful manner, "How about we go somewhere more 'intimate' and get to know each other better?"

He knew she was teasing him, but he couldn't resist. It had nothing to do with her iron-like grip on his neck, either.

"Could you just let go of me?" He said, trying to pry her arm off with his fingers. He couldn't find a good grip anywhere to leverage her free.

"But Imouto wants to play!" She whined, the devilish grin coming into view belied her true thoughts, "You like Imouto, don't you... Oniichan?"

She was now calling herself "little sister"? Either she had some kind of fetish, or, knowing his luck, she was going to do something to either humiliate him, get him in trouble, or both. His eyes went to the clock to see that it held no salvation: The club would not be meeting for at least another hour or so.

"How could I even call you little sister," he asked annoyed, "when I don't even know your name?"

"Oh! How rude of me!" the Goddess said, releasing him to take a mock bow, "My name is Urd, Goddess Second Class. Please take care of me."

"Curd?" he asked, baffled, "Isn't that just bad milk?"

"No, you idiot!" she said, regaining her headlock on him, "URD! U-Ru-Do in your language!"

"S-sorry," He said, once again trying to escape with no luck, "I am-"

"Oh, I know who you are, Keiichi Morisato," Urd replied, "And I know that because of the wish you made, my sister is now here on Earth and possibly in great danger. So do you mind telling me what was it that you wished for, so we can fix this and go home?"

Wish? This whole scene was because she thought he had made the wish?

"It wasn't me," he said, still attempting to free himself. The amazingly gorgeous face came into view again with a questioning look.

"What was that?" She asked. She looked confused, "Aren't you Keiichi Morisato, living in the All-boys' dorm on Hanabi Avenue?"

"Yeah," he said, "But I didn't make any wish."

"So you're telling me that it wasn't you making the System Force go 'Blooey?'?" He nodded his agreement to the statement, "Then, who was it that made the wish?"

He debated what to tell Urd: His last attempt to keep the whole thing hushed up for the privacy of the wisher had ended in a disaster, so maybe this time, telling could make things even worse. He gave up, knowing that, whatever he chose would be bad, but not telling could make the situation explode into something horrific.

"The person that made the wish," Keiichi said, "Is a woman named Sora Hasegawa. She had wished for Belldandy to marry her."

He expected Ud to throw a tantrum and destroy the clubhouse. He had also expected her to go running off to find her sister. Part of him also thought she would collapse in disbelief that her sister had married another female.

What he hadn't expected was for her to start laughing.

"Oh, that's too funny!" Urd said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "That's comedy gold! Wait till I tell her friend Sif about this!"

Before Keiichi could react, Urd grabbed hold of his arm and started to drag him out the door.

"Hey, wait!" he protested, grabbing his coat as they passed the chair he slung it on, "Where are we going? Can you at least let me get my coat on? It's freezing!"

Urd stopped long enough to let him put the jacket on before grabbing his hand once more. Keiichi blushed when he realized that the Goddess was outside in the cold, and parts of her body were made prominent through her kimono. He tried not to think about it too much.

"We're going to find my sister," Urd said as she dragged him along, "I need to talk to her about the problem with the System Force."

Keiichi had barely heard her; the kimono had slipped down her shoulder for a moment before the Goddess absently pulled it back into place.

"Okay," Keiichi said, his answer falling on deaf ears. He hoped that whatever it was, it would not keep this frustrating, beautiful deity here for much longer.

--

Sayoko had finally gotten away from her annoying cousin, and was taking the long way around to the parking lot to keep him from spotting her. She happened to be passing past the decrepit building that uncouth Motor Club used as their meeting place when something caught her eye.

A woman, extremely tall and beautiful with silvery hair was pulling a guy behind her. When she focused, it looked to be that odd-looking boy that had been sitting on the bench with that other girl that had the potential to be her rival at school. The woman had pulled up her kimono, and the boy, now a man, was blushing furiously.

"Interesting," Sayoko thought, smiling at a wicked thought that had come to mind. Maybe this boy… Kensuke? Keiichi? Needed to be upgraded in her "To Watch" list after all. And as for that woman, if she wasn't a high-class hooker, then she could be a very dangerous person to her position as Queen of the campus.

"Yes," Sayoko said to herself, "very interesting, indeed…"


	9. Aoshima

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Many thanks to Davner for helping me sort out some of the annoying bits that were driving me nuts. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Nine

Aoshima

Keiichi stood in front of Sora's apartment, rubbing his arm in annoyance. Urd had dragged him all the way there without letting go, and between the rub mark and the numbness, he was just getting some life back into his fingers. The Goddess stood in front of the door, sizing it up.

She had a look as if she were going to blast the door down. Considering how hard she was staring at it, Keiichi believed she could. Suddenly, she raised her hand high in a dramatic way, causing Keiichi to flinch. Just as suddenly, she brought her hand towards the door.

Keiichi winced and braced for the impact of the blast, but when he looked back at the door, Urd was still standing there, her knuckles mere millimeters from the door. She was grinning evilly as she tapped lightly at the door.

"Coming!" a muffled cry from inside answered. There was a crash followed by some cursing before the door opened. Sora peeked out the door, saw him, and opened it further.

"Hi!" She said, stepping out to the landing. She looked rather ruffled in several places, and seemed to realize it herself as she readjusted her shirt and hair. He looked over at Urd, who was smiling as if she knew what had been going on behind the closed door.

"Sorry." Sora said, blushing, "Come on in. Would you like some tea?" She must have been flustered, because she didn't offer a greeting to Urd at all.

"Sure," Keiichi said, "That would be great." Keiichi waved Urd to follow, and she complied, taking in the room as she entered.

It was Keiichi's first time seeing the apartment as well. He noticed that it was roomier than Sora's dorm room, and that the natural light really gave the place warmth.

It was then that Sora turned to ask him about sugar, that she saw Urd. She started a little, but bowed, not only to be polite, but to hide the embarrassment she must be feeling.

"I'm sorry," she said, still bowed, "Welcome to my home. My name is Sora Hasegawa."

"She is-" Keiichi began, but before he could finish, Urd reached out and took Sora's hand.

"I'm Urd, Keiichi's girlfriend!" The Goddess replied, "We just started dating… I'd say about an hour ago!"

Keiichi was about to protest, but Urd winked at him and shook her head slightly. Sora was looking at him with utter disbelief plain on her face.

"Um," she began, but decided not to finish; she instead gave Urd a skeptical glance before offering them seats at the table. She served Urd first, and both Keiichi and Sora were surprised at how many spoonfuls of sugar she put into her green tea. Sora reached Keiichi as Urd began sipping from her cup.

"Keiichi," She whispered as she put the cup on the table, "How much are you paying her to be your girlfriend?"

Urd must have heard, because she spit out the tea in a fine spray across the table. Keiichi felt his face going red from the embarrassment from both the comment and the reaction.

"I mean really, Keiichi," Sora continued, either not realizing or ignoring the fact that she had been heard, "I know you don't have money, and she might be cheap but…"

"Okay!" Urd growled, standing up, "_That's it!_"

Keiichi felt the blood drain from his face, and watched Urd cup her hands together while crackling blue ball start to coalesce.

"R-Really," Keiichi said, eying Urd. Sora hadn't seen Urd's reaction because she was too focused on Keiichi, "It isn't like that. I don't have any money!"

"Ah," Sora said, nodding, "She must be paying you," Sora frowned at him, "I know you want to fix the Beemer badly, but to become a gigolo…"

"I am not a gigolo!" He said, the same moment Urd said "I am NOT his Sugar Momma!" and blew apart the table with the blast, causing Sora to jump with a squeak.

Before the scene could become mayhem, Belldandy came out of the bathroom.

"What was that noise?" Bell's concerned voice asked from the bathroom doorway. She looked over at Urd, "_Neesan?_ What are you doing here? What in Heaven's name happened to the table?"

"_Neesan?"_ Keiichi thought, _Urd is the _older _sister?_

"Damnit, Sis," Urd sighed, "Why are you so good at adapting to cultures? I had him believing that I was your _younger_ sister!" Keiichi just looked at Urd with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Neesan," Bell said again in a firmer voice, not letting Urd change the subject. Urd sighed, acknowledging defeat. To Keiichi, Urd did seem to be the younger of the two.

"Sorry, Sis," She said, looking embarrassed, "I got a little carried away."

"Why are you here on Earth anyway?" Belldandy asked, "If you're not monitoring Yggdrasil…"

"It's fine," Urd countered a bit nervously, waving the comment away, "It's fine. The squirt can handle it here for a day or two without supervision. I just wanted to take a break and come see my cute younger sister."

Belldandy didn't seem convinced; Keiichi watched the younger Goddess give her sister a look, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so. Urd visibly paled, then seemed to be looking for an escape. The elder sister caught sight of him from the corner of her eye and visibly brightened.

"I see you already know my boyfriend!" Urd said, taking hold of her sister and pushing her towards him, "He's such a cutie, isn't he?"

Belldandy glanced at him from the corner of her eye, looking a bit sad for some reason. Suddenly, her face flushed and she clasped her hands in front of her while beaming happily.

"Oh!" She said closing her eyes as if in a quick prayer, "I'm so happy for the two of you!"

He could see Urd release a sigh. Sora still hadn't caught on, because she was still giving him a suspicious look. Belldandy had hugged her sister, and was now making her way over to him. He gulped nervously, afraid of how either Sora or Urd would take the hug: The last thing he needed was to stir up some kind of trouble by accepting such an honest gesture.

"Well, then," Belldandy said, still smiling "I guess we should have a meal to celebrate!"

"Sounds good to me," Urd said, holding her stomach, as if she were containing a fierce animal, "I'm starving!"

"Wonderful!" Belldandy beamed, "Sora, would you please go get some supplies?"

"Yeah," Sora said. She had been staring so intently at Keiichi that she had practically jumped when the Goddess had spoken her name, "Sure thing."

"Wonderful!" Belldandy repeated, scribbling a list of things she would need on a piece of paper, "It won't take long to make the list!"

"Maybe Keiichi should go with her," Urd suggested. Belldandy nodded, and Keiichi had found himself conscripted for the job before he could even offer to help.

Keiichi gave Urd a questioning look, but she merely just made a "shooing" motion, basically dismissing him.

"Yeah, I'll go," He said, rolling his eyes, "Not that my opinion really matters." He added as a mumble. Sora gave him a sympathetic look as she grabbed her coat.

"Great. Thanks." Urd said, smiling as Keiichi put on his jacket, "Be sure to bring back some saké as well!"

With that, Keiichi closed the door, following Sora towards the street.

"Ok," Sora said, stopping in the alley to look at him, "Spill it."

"What?" Keiichi said, perplexed, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"She's not your girlfriend," Sora said pointedly, "She seems closer to someone who likes to joke around than to do something serious."

Keiichi blinked. Sora had Urd pegged.

"Come on, Keiichi," Sora said, "Just tell me the truth. I know you've been pining for Sayoko for forever."

"She's not my girlfriend," he sighed. Something Sora said hit him, though.

"Wait," Keiichi said, staring at Sora with disbelief, "You knew I had a thing for Sayoko?"

It was Sora's turn to look at him disbelievingly.

"Keiichi," She said slowly, "I was there when you showed up in that green 'monstrosity' of yours and asked her to go to the museum!"

"You were?" He asked, surprised.

"The FREAKING MUSEUM, Keiichi!" She emphasized, jamming her finger into her palm pointedly with each word, "Add in the way you sigh about her any time the other guys in the Motor Club even mention her family's company, and it was like reading a MAP THROUGH TRACING PAPER!"

Keiichi blushed, "That obvious?"

"Yes," she said, regaining her composure a bit, "'that obvious!'"

"Oh."

--

When they returned, neither Goddess was speaking to each other; they both sat at the table, staring pensively at their teas. They had barely looked up at Sora as she opened the door.

Sora thought it was completely different than the atmosphere before they had left.

"I got the stuff," Sora said, half-heartedly, "And here is your saké, Urd."

"Thanks," Urd replied, taking the bottle, uncorking it, and downing a third of it as if it were water, "I needed this." She finished with a slight hiccup. Belldandy had taken the supplies into the Kitchen area and began preparing food.

"What's gotten into them?" Keiichi asked. All Sora could do was shrug in ignorance.

The silence as they ate was deafening. Sora was looking at Keiichi, who was glaring at Urd, who seemed to be puzzling out her sister, while Bell looked puzzlingly at Keiichi.

Somehow, the boy was at the middle of whatever it was that upset the two women.  
Before she could say anything, Keiichi began to speak.

"I'm really digging the vibe in here." Keiichi said, poking Sora with his elbow, "It's almost as if Grandpa just yelled ad Mom for making crappy meatloaf during Christmas KFC, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Sora agreed, putting her fists on her hips, "Did ErdGuy try to scare the crap out of Urd? If so, I'll give him a piece of my mind!"

"No," Belldandy said, putting both hands up, as if she were at gunpoint, "He didn't do anything."

"Wait," Keiichi said, looking at Sora with curiosity before pointing a thumb at Urd, "UrdGuy? Does she cross-dress?"

"No!" Both Urd and Sora said. Sora could see Belldandy restraining her sister, so Sora explained about the Earth Spirit in the house, all while Urd said "I'll kill him quick, Sis! Let me go!" and similar threats.

After her quick summation, Keiichi nodded in understanding. Sora looked at the sisters. She saw that Urd had finally calmed down and Belldandy was pouring some more tea. When she looked at Keiichi, he had his hands in his pockets in a casual, confident manner that seemed to annoy Urd.

She decided that she had to find out what was going on before Urd killed him.

"Well," she said, trying to smile reassuringly, "now that that's been cleared up, would one of you please explain to us what is happening?"

"Well, you see," Belldandy said, first glancing at her sister and fidgeting a little before looking back at Sora, "It's, well…"

"Your wish is going to make things go 'blooey.'" Urd said, looking at her sister, "Geez, Bell! You can't sugar-coat everything!"

Sora was nonplussed. The wish _she_ had made was a major problem?

"This is great!" Sora beamed while the others looking at her as if she had grown an extra head, "Since it's going to cause problems, we can void the wish, and everything goes back to normal!"

"It doesn't work that way," Urd said, shaking her head sadly, "because the problem lies not in the wish itself, but because it was an unauthorized wish, it is active, but inaccessible."

"The System Force has glitched." Belldandy said, smoothing her dress, so she wouldn't have to look at Sora, "The wish has gone 'rogue.'"

--

Sayoko Mishima got out of her green Mercedes, tossing the keys to the valet that had opened the door. She could have kept the keys in, but she so wanted the guy to earn his keep trying to get it up and running; the car's controls were all in German, and the best part was the key didn't turn the ignition over – it just gave you the ability to start the vehicle. He deserved it, after all, considering that she had found out that he had taken her yellow baby out for a ride, instead of parking it.

She was hoping he would put a dent in it, just so she could tell her Aunt Sawako to fire the low-class moron.

As she entered, the wait staff bowed to her and greeted her properly. She all but ignored everyone, only acknowledging the butler that offered to take her coat. Ignoring the butler's bow, she made her way to the grand parlor to meet her cousin.

She really didn't like her cousin in the least. He believed that every beautiful woman was his to play with, almost as if they were toys: He either wooed them, bought them or both.

The thought sickened her; how could anyone tolerate him to be won over by him?

But that was why she was here. She needed his particular talent with women.

The new girl, the foreigner was too much of a threat to her position as Nekomi Tech's Queen, especially after Sayoko had heard how the woman had garnered a crowd so quickly from just sitting on a bench.

And the boy she had been with? He was intriguing, too. She wanted to learn more about how he could attract such beautiful women when he was so incredibly "common."

But the boy could wait; her throne was on the line, and she wanted to squash the opposition like a grape in a wine press. She now had knowledge that this foreign girl was nearby, so it was very likely that she would return to campus, especially as a student.

If her information was correct, this girl was now officially living nearby. She might be able to work two birds with one stone, if everything worked to plan.

She would put Aoshima on the foreigner's scent, and she would most likely succumb to either his money or his "charms." Either would separate the boy from her.

And Sayoko would be there for the boy to pick up the pieces.

It was a plan so delicious and simple that Sayoko could almost taste the twofold victory.

"Good evening, cousin." Aoshima said as she entered the grand parlor, "Are you here to see Mother tonight?"

"Actually," Sayoko said, an evil glint in her eye, "I've come to see you."

--

It had been three days since Urd came to visit, and Keiichi wondered how he got dragged into ushering the Goddess around town in his free time. She clung to his arm tightly, and the way she dressed made him feel as if he had hired a female escort for the night.

It was made worse by the fact that she was taller than him and she had decided to wear four-inch heels today, along with one of the most revealing outfits he had ever seen and still been legal. Even her jacket somehow managed to emphasize the assets that were now at eye level.

He looked back on his arrival at Sora's, seeing her invite him in with a huge grin on her face as she said that he'd be enjoying the view tonight.

Keiichi now wished he hadn't offered to play tour guide to the Goddess.

It wasn't how she was dressed – okay, it was, but not for the reason someone would think; she had also decided that her new favorite color was pink.

It was like he was walking with a giant ad for a love hotel. Keiichi wondered if they could use this outfit to bring in some cash in this manner, before pushing the thought away.

"So, darling," Urd said in a nasally, syrupy voice, "can we stop to get something to eat? I haven't had anything to eat all day!"

Keiichi gritted his teeth. Before leaving, Urd had finished off a bag of chips, and a box of takoyaki. She was really putting on the theatrics to go with her obvious visual attempts to embarrass him.

"We have someplace to be 'Dear'," he sighed, trying not to make any more of a scene, "If we aren't on time, we'll get in trouble."

Urd's grin widened as if she were going to say something, but Keiichi pulled her a bit closer, so nobody else could hear.

"Not now Urd," Keiichi hissed through smiling teeth, "I just want to get you back to Sora's so I can make it to my job on time."

The Goddess pouted playfully, and was about to say something, but Keiichi forestalled her by talking first.

"I promise," Keiichi said, patting her hand while still smiling at the people that were staring at them walking down the sidewalk, "we'll go to your favorite place after we're done. Can you hold on for that long, 'Dear?'"

"Oh, Darling!" Urd said, gripping him harder, pressing her breasts into his arm in an embarrassing way, "I can't wait!" Whispering, Urd added, "You had better follow through with it, too."

He didn't know how much more of this he could take. Between Sora's teasing and Urd's retaliation, he wondered if the two were conspiring against him. He guessed that it was most likely that it would be a while before life returned to any sort of normalcy.

It wasn't very likely to happen, though.

The first reason was because Urd had some personal vendetta against him where she was going to do her best to either humiliate him or push his buttons to the point that he would snap.

The second reason was what the Goddesses had said about Sora's wish. They both explained what could happen in detail, losing both himself and Sora until he asked them to put it in the simplest terms possible. What they came up with between them, was that the wish screwed up part of the System Force, the System Force was now returning odd parameters, and the odd parameters would start making things on Earth far from normal.

He had commented that he felt as if he was in a Twilight Zone episode. They both commented that they wished they would have used that analogy in the first place.

The final thing pulling him further from reality was his roommate. Hoshi had seen Labyrinth, and now catered to singing and dancing while wearing a codpiece before settling down to write fan fiction or to review the other fan fiction writers' work. There had been several times in the past night alone that he had woken Keiichi from a nice dream of walking hand-in-hand with Sayoko on the beach, right before he could make a move to kiss the woman.

Keiichi almost shuddered, thinking about having to deal with the guy when he returned to his dorm room.

Somehow, they made it back to Sora's place with no further teasing from Urd.

"Hey," Keiichi said to Erdgeist, who merely bowed his head slightly. The Earth Spirit was more like a butler than a resident. The girls formally introduced Erdgeist after their commentary on the System Force anomaly that was Sora's wish. With how much trouble it had caused, he's surprised that nobody had started calling it "Wish-chan" as if it were a typhoon.

"Is Bell around?" Keiichi asked, noting the usual greeting from the third resident of the apartment, "I was wondering if she needed anything from the store before my shift."

"Well, aren't you nice," Sora said, grinning slyly, "First Sayoko, then Urd and now Belldandy. You know that she's a married woman."

"Yeah, yeah," Keiichi replied, rolling his eyes, "Whatever. I just owed her for when she fixed that bump on my head when Urd clobbered me with the Sake' bottle."

"I said that was an accident!" Urd cried from the other room, where she was hopefully changing into something less pink. Keiichi rolled his eyes again, causing Sora to stifle a giggle in her hand.

"Anyway," Keiichi said to Sora, choosing not to reply to Urd's continuing protest of innocence, "It's time for work, so I'll probably see you at the next club meeting.

"Okay." Sora said, waving to him, "Be sure to have fun digging!"

With a wave, he was off to work. Fortunately, he had a locker to keep his uniform in there, so he didn't even have to go back to the dorm. He didn't think he could handle any more of Hoshi's "Lord Roberto" routine at this moment.

He was halfway to work when he saw Aoshima's car zip by. He didn't think anything about it at first, until he saw the car take a corner.

Belldandy was in the passenger side. What was she doing with such an unsavory guy like that? He decided to see if he could get an idea of where they were going. He trotted to the end of the street to see Aoshima's red car standing out of all the drab white and black cars on the road. He saw the car pull over near a building. Aoshima had exited the car, came around the other side, and opened the door.

Keiichi started walking towards the building. He saw Aoshima grab hold of Belldandy's hand or wrist – it was too hard to tell at this distance – and start pulling her into the building.

He started to run towards them. He knew he wasn't going to catch up to them, but he could do his best to prevent the bastard from doing anything.

He got to the place the red car was parked, gasping for breath. The valet there was looking at him oddly.

He didn't even talk to the valet; he proceeded as quickly and calmly as he could towards the building. Now that he caught his breath, he realized that this was the most expensive hotel in the area.

Was he really doing the right thing? The way that Aoshima had taken her hand made him really nervous about the rich man's motive. It didn't help that his reputation as a womanizer was the best-known thing about him. He entered the building, slightly bowing to the bellboy that held open the door.

What was he going to say when he got up to the counter? There had to be something he could use as an excuse to discover which room they went to.

He went to the counter aside the door. It looked snazzier and more "personal" then the desk against the wall. The woman there was tall; she dwarfed the man she was now bowing to by half a head. Keiichi swallowed nervously, and went over to the woman.

"May I help you?" The lady asked before seating herself behind the desk.

"Yes," Keiichi said a bit nervously, "It seems a classmate of mine came in here."

She looked at him skeptically. He wasn't sure how he was going to pull this off.

He swallowed, and put his hand in his pants' pocket, looking for his college ID. He also felt the twenty that he was going to use for lunches as his fingers grasped the small booklet.

Should he do it? He'd starve while working, but it beat losing any more precious time getting Belldandy away from that creep.

He pulled out the booklet and the twenty, making the twenty conspicuously visible to the lady.

"His name is Aoshima," Keiichi said, handing over his ID and the bill, "Toshiuki Aoshima. He's in one of my classes, and he didn't come in today, so he didn't hear when the midterm would be."

She looked at the ID before casually taking the twenty.

"I really hate to ask," Keiichi said nervously, "but he needs to know, and I need to get to my job really soon."

The woman eyed him a moment, then typed on her computer. She gave him the floor and room number, as well as pointed him to the elevators. He bowed and made his way to them, trying to count off the minutes he had lost.

Would he reach her in time? Would she fry Aoshima with her power? For some reason, he feared that Bell's naiveté would give Aoshima the chance he needed to overwhelm her.

He got to the elevator, and pressed the button. The indicator showed that three of the elevators were stopped on floors, while the remaining one crawled up from one floor to another at an incredibly snail-like pace. It also appeared to have finally reached halfway up the building.

He might still have a shot, then: Belldandy might be either stuck on one of those floors, or she might be slowly ascending up to the top. He looked to his left and saw the stairwell, and decided to just climb the stairs instead. He looked at the floor indicator once more before taking off for the stairwell.

Keiichi took the stairs two at a time to try to beat the elevator to the topmost floor. As he ascended, he thought about the situation

_Come on, Keiichi,_ he thought to himself, you can do this.

But would his efforts be wasted? What if all they were doing was having a nice chat?

_Get real,_ a part of his mind countered as he gulped in air, _This is Aoshima we're talking about! You've heard the stories about his conquests!_

Still, those stories could be over exaggerated. The guy might be all talk and no action.

_He's filthy rich,_ came the response, somewhat angrily_, and he _has_ bought his way to better grades, just because he could!_

And yet, part of him still felt as if he were David going against Goliath. The fact that they had started and didn't finish the story due to the bell ringing didn't do much for his confidence.

_You work out every day with the Motor Club members,_ he thought, still taking the stairs as fast as he could, _you should have better endurance than this. _He passed a sign indicating the twelfth floor. He was making rapid progress.

_As slow as that elevator was going, _the thought danced through his head, _you're still going to make it in time._

He hoped so. He didn't want to have to explain to Sora and Urd why he couldn't do anything to help Belldandy.

She's going to need help. Aoshima won't let her gain any kind of footing before he-

Keiichi stopped that line of thought: He was now about two-thirds of the way up the stairs. His legs ached and his breathing was heavy, but not as bad as he had feared. Whether it was true or not, he attributed his additional strength to his giving up smoking, and pushed on, trying to get more speed out of his limbs. Keiichi hoped that he wouldn't collapse form a heart attack once he reached the top.

_You're fine,_ he thought, wiping sweat from his face as he continued his climb, _and you'll be able to make it. You'll most likely beat the snot out of him too; you work on engines daily, manually tightening bolts to high torque and what does he do all day? Sit on his ass, eating tea and crumpets!_

The thought helped him to continue. He would make it, especially now that he was about three quarters of the way up. If his guess was right, the elevator was now just arriving at the top floor, unless anyone else in the car had stopped it at a floor.

But Aoshima could have a key. Even though it wasn't the penthouse, the top floor most likely meant that the clientele had such perks available to them. He passed a sign that indicated twentieth floor and became hopeful: He only had four more to go to his destination.

Would he be able to get in with no problem? It didn't matter. If worse came to worst, he could always just kick the door in like they do on television.

Part of him though still wished he had been able to get a sledgehammer from work to "knock" on the door a few times.

He was finally at the top floor. After this, you needed a special key to get to the penthouse, so he was glad that Aoshima didn't have that kind of clout to his name. He opened the door to the stairwell and proceeded to look at the hallway.

The hall itself was not like the usual halls in the hotels he had stayed at. There was room enough to walk five abreast without touching shoulders before you even touched the first branch of any of the miniature trees lining the hallway. There were numerous paintings and he saw a couple urns and sculptures of varying sizes near each room. He could use one of the statues as a battering ram, if need be.

To his inner relief, it wasn't needed: He came to the door indicated by the Concierge and, off intuition, turned the knob.

The door opened inwardly. He was glad that it had not made any sounds.

Keiichi looked in. He didn't see Aoshima or Belldandy, but he did hear them.

"Relax," Aoshima's voice seemed to drip honey as he spoke, "I won't bite… Unless you want me to."

There was no reply. Was she really okay? There was something in him that made him doubt what he was doing.

Am I really helping her?

If not you, then who?

But I could have misinterpreted the situation.

That's a lie, and you know it!

And what if I am wrong?

Well, what if that was your sister? Would you still be flouncing like this as Aoshima makes his move?

The thought was like a slap to his face. He wouldn't even be hesitating if this was his sister. Why should Bell be any different?

Mad at himself and Aoshima, he charged into the bedroom.

What he saw was not as bad as he had feared. Aoshima had Belldandy's mouth covered with his, while one hand held her hands, and the other worked on opening her shirt. He could see tears in her eyes.

She must have been taken by surprise; else she would have fried him to a crisp.

"Let her go!" Keiichi yelled as he raced over to the bed, grabbed Aoshima by his collar, and pulled him off the Goddess.

"What the-" Aoshima started to say, before Keiichi decked him full in the mouth. The force of the hit pushed Bell's assailant into the wall.

Aoshima wiped his mouth with his hand, looked at it and nearly freaked out at the sight of his own blood.

"I can't believe you hit me!" Aoshima said in disbelief. Aoshima clenched his fist, looking ready to fight back.

Keiichi put up his guard, but Aoshima's eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out, crumpling to the floor pathetically. With the other man unconscious, Keiichi turned his attention to Belldandy.

"Are you-"Keiichi began, but was interrupted by the Goddess's arms wrapping around him.

"Thank the Almighty!" Bell said, crying into his shoulder. Keiichi hesitated before returning the hug.

After a few moments, he helped her up, and they both exited the hotel room. Not wanting to be seen, they took the stairs back down.

"You could have been hurt," Belldandy said as they descended the stairs, not looking at him.

"It was better than the alternative," He said, rubbing his knuckles. They felt sore now.

They were silent for a few floors before Bell spoke again.

"I could have used my power on him." Belldandy said, "Then you wouldn't have needed to put yourself in danger."

"Then why didn't you?" He said, stopping on a step to look at her. She stopped as well, but didn't look back.

"Well," Keiichi urged, "why didn't you stop him with your powers?"

Still the Goddess didn't answer. She just kept looking down the stairwell.

"I don't know," She said, her voice was shaking, "I had the chance but I-"

"He knew," Keiichi said, coming down to her step. She took another step forward to prevent him from seeing her expression, "Aoshima knew about your marriage, didn't he?"

Belldandy nodded before continuing down the stairs. Keiichi followed.

"I don't understand," Belldandy said, "He seemed so nice."

"Well," Keiichi replied, "Some people only act nice, whether they are or not, is another thing altogether."

"I see," Belldandy said.

"So," Keiichi said after a moment's silence, "why did you go with him in the first place?

"Sora," Bell replied, trying to regain her composure, "Sora had always talked too lovingly about him, so when I got lost…"

"You asked him for help." Keiichi finished. "How did you know it was him?"

He couldn't see her face, but Belldandy's ears reddened. She must be completely embarrassed for him to be able to see it so visibly.

"She has a picture in her purse," the Goddess answered, "so after she had been telling me all about him, I got curious, so I took a peek."

It was what anyone in Bell's situation would have done, but since the thought of peering like that at other people's personal belongings might seem normal to a human under those circumstances, it might have a completely different meaning altogether to a Goddess.

"Ah," Keiichi replied noncommittally.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Belldandy asked as they continued their descent.

"Yeah," he answered. His knuckles did smart a little, but the more he flexed his fingers, the more the pain subsided "Thanks for asking, though."

"Thank goodness," she said, "I was worried you'd been hurt."

For some reason, Keiichi got annoyed. He quickly moved ahead a few steps, turned and looked at Belldandy.

"And you don't think other people don't worry about you?" he asked, a frown deepening on his face, "I was almost in a state of panic when I saw him pulling you by the wrist up to this 'love nest' of his!

"Don't you get it?" Keiichi continued, "He had you in the palm of his hand! He could have threatened you through Sora if he wanted to! Aoshima is that type of person! He would as soon as take pleasure in ruining your life and Sora's at the same time if he didn't get what he wanted from you, and you would have been powerless to stop him!"

"What about you?" Belldandy asked as Keiichi glared at her, "He could have used his clout on your family!"

"It's not the same," Keiichi said, calming down a little at the sight of the tears forming on the Goddess's face, "My mother and father have stable jobs in an out-of-the way town nobody cares about. My sister isn't in college yet, so she is in no danger, either.

"And as for me," he continued, "I could just go back to that small town and work for the mechanic there. I had worked for him part time, and he'd be thrilled to have me work for him on a full time basis. Aoshima's family influence doesn't reach that far, by any stretch of the imagination."

Suddenly, the adrenaline rush that had been sustaining him wore off. His legs felt wobbly and he tried his hardest to prevent his legs and arms from shaking violently. He clutched the rail and tried to look casual as he waited for her to respond.

After an awkward silence, she stepped down to the same step he was on, reached out and took his head tenderly in her hands and smiled.

"You are a good man, Keiichi Moristo," She said, pulling his face towards him, "May Fortune always smile on you." He felt her lips touch his forehead and a warm, gentle sensation flowed through his body.

After a moment, the sensation faded and she released him. It sounded like she said something else, but the sound of her footsteps on the stairs drowned it out. He unconsciously touched his forehead, and rubbed it slightly before catching up to her.

He didn't know it then, but that sign of affection was the herald of better things to come…


	10. Turnabout

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Sorry for the wait on this, but real life and rewriting this particular chapter four different times put a crimp on the posting schedule. Thanks once again need to go to Davner, for telling me honestly that he didn't like the crap I had for the first drafts, and I think everyone else should thank him too, even though it'll swell his head. 8) Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Ten

Turnabout

Sora Hasegawa walked with a purpose. Her left hand was on her pocketbook, but her right hand was clenched in a fist. To an outsider, her face was filled with both determination and anger, and several Nekomi students actually cleared the way for her. Her strides were even and sure, lacking their usual mousiness.

There was also the look in her eyes - several people that knew her had been about to call out to her, but once the glint of reflected light dissipated and they saw the flint-like set to them, they had opted to wait to speak to her at a better time.

Some of the people she passed looked concerned, as if they were expecting her to draw a pistol out of her bag and, guns blazing, take out as many people as possible before the police could finally stop her rampage. They fingered their cell phones nervously, giving the air of alert rabbits about to dart from a hungered wolf.

Sora felt none of this though as she walked along. She knew of a need within her to do something, but she didn't know what. Her emotions danced from anxious to hurt to angered and back again as if on a random shuffle on an extremely limited playlist.

Her heart pounded in her chest, and she could feel her breathing increase as well. The near hysteria she had been holding back was threatening to get the better of her once more.

_What the hell am I doing?_ She thought with dismay. _He could bury me financially forever!_

For the umpteenth time in as many minutes, she questioned her sanity.

_I'll be fine,_ she reassured herself, _and Belldandy is fine and... Just what the hell am I doing?!?_

She passed several people she knew from school, but didn't say anything to them; they all looked as if they needed to be elsewhere, which was fine, since she had someplace she needed to be, as well.

As she walked, she thought about what happened to try to wind up her courage. It hadn't helped that she had gotten the story in anachronistic order, either, but she had finally sorted out the events that Keiichi and Bell had been through in as best as possible.

_ Belldandy looked upset; she barely even looked up. Her focus on her hands was disconcerting, to say the least._

_ "What's going on?" Sora said, looking uneasily between the Goddess and Keiichi. Keiichi had decided to remain standing, and seemed to be digging in his pockets, as if to find something. Thankfully, Urd was already fast asleep, and Erdgeist had been outside doing his spirity-whatever-thing that he tended to do at times._

_ Sora was about to gently prompt Belldandy again, but before she could open her mouth to do so, the Goddess began to speak._

_ "Everything's okay," Bell said, her voice sounding shaky. Sora saw Keiichi slouch a little and roll his eyes slightly. The boy's body language was like a red flag, but she didn't know why- he appeared to be relaxed, yet there was a sense of being wound tight about him._

Sora frowned herself as she swerved around some passers-by that hadn't been looking where they were going as they talked. That annoyance, compounded with what she was already feeling made her feel somewhat queasy. She tried focusing on her thoughts again as she continued on her way.

_ "Can you tell me about what's going on?" She said again, and the Goddess finally nodded. She saw Keiichi release a sigh, and Sora thought that somehow, he was relieved he wasn't the one doing the telling._

_ That thought did nothing to ease Sora's concerns in the least. She was going to say something again, but as she opened her mouth, Belldandy began to speak._

_ "Today," She said, looking into Sora's eyes, "I had the chance to meet Mister Aoshima."_

From there, the conversation took one that made Sora blink disbelievingly at both Bell and Keiichi. The Goddess told how she had gotten lost, and how she had found Aoshima's picture in her purse (which had made Sora blush furiously - and she could feel her face heating even now!) and those blue eyes told her how Aoshima had threatened her. Not Belldandy - her to the point where the poor woman didn't know what to do. She remembered exactly what Belldandy had said, and it made her furious. She absently shoved her way past someone but wasn't paying attention: Her mind was playing the scene over again in her mind.

_ "He threatened you," Belldandy whispered, the tears forming in those deep blue orbs again, showing the hurt and confusion she had never expected from the Goddess, "He's someone that is ruled by his desires, and I should have been more aware of that."_

_ "It's not a big deal. I'm fine. Really." The words came out with a little quaver, and while they might be true, there was the undercurrent beneath them that really told the whole story behind what Belldandy was saying._

_ It made Sora realize that even Goddesses could be weak sometimes. Sora glanced at Keiichi, but he just leaned against the wall, frowning deeply the whole time. Why was he so quiet about it? Maybe he wanted the woman sitting across from her to explain? No, that wasn't it - the more she looked at the boy, she realized that he was just as shaken as the Goddess._

_ "H-He threatened you," Bell said again, "h-h-e said that.. that..." Bell closed her eyes, wiping them with the back of her hand, and let out a long exhale as if she were willing herself to continue, "that if I didn't do as he s-said, that-that he'd ruin your life forever with all the contacts he had all over the country._

_ "I would have blasted him if he had threatened only me," The Goddess continued, "but if I had done so after that threat, I didn't know what would have happened to you._

_ "Fortunately, Keiichi came to my rescue right after he made this threat; even as I hesitated, he immediately took care of it." She said, smiling weakly at the boy, who merely shrugged in a casual manner as if to say "no biggie."_

_ Then he took his hand out of his pocket..._

_ ... And Sora saw the huge bruise covering most of it._

Sora snapped up from her reverie; before her was a group of people clustered around one central person. Since Sora didn't see Sayoko's car in its reserved parking spot, it could only mean one thing.

Aoshima.

Sora stopped in her tracks, surprised to see him so soon. She was afraid that she'd have to scour the whole campus before she found him. He was standing in his little clique of "friends" laughing at something, causing his little group to ape him.

The man had a look about him, something that Sora hadn't seen or chosen not to see in him: He looked as if he were looking down on everything and everyone around him as if they were playthings. His condescending smile and the contempt in his eyes were still there, even with his split, swollen lip and accompanying purple-yellow colored bruise.

She had loved him. She had been blind to her emotions and never seen what it was that the man really was. Part of her still felt the shame of it, and realized that, because of her blindness, she had almost hurt someone that meant a lot to her.

And that, more than anything, made her shame cut to the bone.

Aoshima hadn't seen her, or if he did, he paid no heed to her, which made her anger swell inside of her. She knew that he was probably laughing at her even now - barely even worth his contempt or acknowledgment.

The shame had changed. It was now a smoldering rage. She moved her hand bag from her right shoulder to her left, squared her shoulders, and started to make her way towards the gaggle of over-egotistical geese with purpose.

As she approached, some of Aoshima's gang saw her, and she was certain that they looked as if they were ready to laugh at and bully her.

Until they saw her face. She couldn't see the look in her eyes, but some of them saw the dangerous glint in her eyes and moved out of her way. Others followed, as they saw what had distracted their fellows, leading a path directly to Aoshima, who Sora was certain, wouldn't move for anyone or anything…

Which was exactly what she had hoped for.

Aoshima seemed to catch sight of the girl and was about to make a snide comment to the "peasant" coming his way, but then he got a good view of her, and his eyes went wide in shock.

_He knows who I am,_ she thought with satisfaction, _and for all that, he probably doesn't know why I am here._

Which was fine; Sora didn't know what she was going to do or say, either. She had unknowingly stopped when the path had opened, and now she moved again with a purpose. Her mind was ablaze with emotion, and...

In seconds, she was in front of him. He was about to say something but before he could, her foot, shod with one of the steel-tipped doc martins she wore when going to the Auto Club's garage swung up as fast and as hard as if she were kicking a soccer ball for a winning goal.

Each of the surrounding flunkies winced and "ooh-ed" in sympathy, but she didn't care. As her foot left his crotch, his face unconsciously came forward and his knees buckled.

"You jerk!" Sora exclaimed, using her boot to push him onto his side, "How _dare_ you do that to anyone, _especially_ my wife!"

She pulled her purse off of her shoulder and smacked him on the head with it, punctuating every word she said with a hit.

"Don't you ever threaten her or me or any of our families," Sora screamed, "or so help me, I'll make you suffer, you little worm!"

Aoshima was curled up in a pathetic ball, his hands protecting his head as best as he could. Sora thought he was whimpering, but all she could hear was her heart thumping in her ears.

"Do you understand me?" She said, still hitting him with the purse. One of his friends tried to pull her away, but she broke free and continued her assault, "Say it! Do. YOU. UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Yes!" Aoshima shrieked, his voice muffled from his defensive position, "For the love of God, Yes! Stop hitting me! Please!"

With a satisfied nod, more to herself than the others, she hoisted her purse to her shoulder, spun on the balls of her feet, and walked back the way she came.

Nobody had noticed the lone figure standing some distance away taking picture of the whole incident.

--

"Way to go, Morisato!" one of the kids on campus said to him, giving him the "thumbs up" sign. He was about to ask what the kid meant, when a group of guys form the Rugby team trotted by.

"Good going Morisato!" They all said in unison as they continued their training circuit.

Keiichi was at a loss. It seemed everyone knew who he was and, for some reason had decided that whatever he had done had warranted their approval.

"Morisato!" one of a group of student coming from the campus center waved, then tossed him something. He caught it and, to his surprise, it was an extremely large orange, the kind they usually charge two bucks for in the Food Court!

Just what the Hell was going on?

He didn't have time to mull it over, because as soon as he stuffed the orange into his pocket, a group of girls came over and posed for a picture with him before taking off, giggling as they did so.

Either this was a dream - a very weird dream - or he was in the middle of one of those prank shows that they ran on mid-day television.

Whatever it was, he decided not to play into it. If he did, he'd make an ass of himself on TV, and since his mother watched these types of show all the time, she'd either feel too humiliated, or she'd be laughing too hard at his bewilderment for his tastes.

Which explained why he wore a bemused smile when the guys from the Auto Club came over to him; each was wearing a shirt with his profile silkscreened on it while they carried a banner with the slogan, "Keiichi Morisato, member of the Auto Club! Join today for a free signature!" As almost an afterthought, it also said "Vote for Student President!Q" underneath it.

Not only could they have checked it for mis-spellings, they could have been a bit clearer if they meant to vote for _him_ for Student President, or if they just meant that people should vote in general.

"Morisato!" Taimiya said, his face streaming tears, "You have proven yourself a man!"

"Keiichi!" Otaki said, following suit, "Big Bro! We subjugate ourselves to you, oh great warrior!"

Keiichi just shrugged, and continued walking. He had to get to class, so he had no time for their antics.

"Aww, come on, Morisato," Taimiya said, overtaking Keiichi and walking backwards. His hands were clasped in the typical begging pose his senior used whenever he wanted something, "You know we'll help you get elected with no problem!"

"Yeah," Otaki agreed, "And once you're elected, come budget time, we-" But he never finished. The others gagged him with their hands and laughed nervously, as if Otaki were making a joke.

Of course, Keiichi knew that this was part of their plot - those two never did anything, unless it dealt with garnering money in one way, shape or form "for the Auto Club." He wondered how much of a percentage of the revenues they accumulated in its name ever did make it back to the club.

"Pass," he said, giving them his best apathetic look. He walked past Tamiya without hesitation.

"Den-chan!" a voice called behind him in a pained manner.

"Dai-chan!" came the response.

Keiichi didn't have to look to know the two had embraced in an overly-dramatic fashion, and were now weeping on the other's shoulder - it was such a common ploy, that others on campus had dubbed it "The Auto Club Maneuver." Keiichi sighed, willing himself not to get caught up in their antics.

After escaping the clutches of his nefarious club members unscathed, he was continually interrupted by other people doing similar things as the others. Final incident was when the Tea Ceremony and Flower Arranging clubs swarmed over him simultaneously, raining praises down on him as they handed him an assortment of flowers and a box wrapped as a present, still without telling him what all the attention was for. After they left, he just sighed before resuming his trek to his class.

--

Sayoko Mishima was furious. How could her cousin even believe he would get away with something so revolting? She was going to wonder if he had taken leave of his senses, but then she remembered that he'd need to have had them in the first place! She tapped her pen on her desk in a quick tempo.

And the gall! The sheer, utter gall to think that, not only would his family protect him, but they would rain righteous hellfire down on the one who had injured his person!

And he had almost been right - her aunt spoiled him so rotten, he almost had a god complex. But when he got careless with his wording, his well-placed story about how he was merely "entertaining" a guest and was assaulted by a spurned lover fell to pieces.

It didn't take much after the contradiction had been discovered, that her aunt squeezed him dry, wrung him out again, then sent him out of her sight to do damage control.

That's when her aunt called Sayoko, and explained the situation. Her aunt had hoped that she would do almost anything to help keep the family name untarnished, but she had been wrong. Sayoko had very politely noted that her cousin had dug his own grave and that she would have no part in this type of collaboration now or ever.

It had felt good telling her snob of an aunt that, for once, they were going to have to clean up their own mess. Her father and mother had agreed with the decision as well. As a matter of fact, they felt that there was no choice but to not only distance themselves for the incident, but also to apologize for the terrible incident to all those involved somehow.

And that meant the boy would need some token of appreciation for stopping such a heinous thing from happening, but nobody had an idea what to do, so they decided to leave it to her.

Yet, Sayoko had no inkling what she should give him to show her family's appreciation. Worse: she didn't know if the boy would even accept! It made quite the quandary for her, to say the least.

She could give him gobs of money. Everyone likes money, don't they? Sayoko had a feeling that if she did go that route, the boy would just think that her family was trying to buy his silence over the matter, and that would almost be as bad as what Aoshima did because of the implied insult.

Sayoko thought of giving him a pin with the Mishima crest on it as a token of appreciation, but that was definitely not something living in this day and age would appreciate, so she decided to scrap that idea, as well.

That's when it came to her. What better gift to give someone than the gift of her time, and a wonderful meal at one of the best restaurants in Nekomi?

Maybe she should go all out, and offer him a meal at the top restaurant in Tokyo? With a smile forming on her face, she put her pen down; abandoning the letter she had been attempting to write.

Yes. This gesture definitely needed a more personal touch...

--

Sora opened the door to her apartment, and stared. The delivery person waiting for her signature stamp was not the usual delivery boys in the area that wore the typical dark blue postal uniform; instead, he wore the trademarked brown uniform of one of the international couriers that advertised on TV a lot.

"Miss Hasegawa?" He asked, looking at his digital signature pad.

"Yes," she replied, and he tapped a few things into the machine.

"Could you please sign here?" He said, pulling a stylus from the side of the device before flipping it around for her. She took the thing and signed it before handing it back.

"Thank you," he said, and she held out her hands, expecting to receive an envelope.

But it wasn't an envelope that was being delivered. The delivery man moved over to the corner of the building, grabbed the handles of a two-wheeled dolly, and leaned back.

Sora blinked. The box that the man was pulling back over to her was about taller than she was, and about as wide. He looked to be straining with the load, so she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She opened the door wider, and pointed him past the kitchen to the main room of the apartment. He plopped the box down with a firm "thud", shimmied his two-wheeler out from under the box, touched the bill of his cap as a goodbye gesture, and exited the apartment before she could tip him.

"What's that?" A masculine voice whispered into her ear, making her jump. Sora turned to see Erdgeist staring at the box with a perplexed look on his face. Sora cuffed him on the shoulder in annoyance as she tried to calm herself down.

"Stop doing that!" she said to him before returning her eyes to the box.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the box wasn't addressed to her, but to Belldandy. Who would send Bell something? Was it a gift from her family? No: The address label didn't have a name with it, but the address looked familiar. Could it be the Mishima Corporation? Sora had a sneaking suspicion that it was.

"So, you going to tell me what it is?" Erdgeist repeated, still looking at the box.

"No!" Sora replied, scowling at the Earth Spirit, "It's for Belldandy, not you or me, so hands off, buster!"

Erdgeist merely looked at her askance before returning his gaze to the nearly monolithic package.

"Really," He said, "are-"

He got no further. Sora clamped her hand to his mouth, causing his eyes to widen.

"Not one more word," Sora hissed in his ear, "Got it?"

Erdgeist simply nodded. Sora could see the perspiration forming on his brow from between his bangs.

She and he turned back to the box, still speculating when Belldandy returned from picking up some vegetables from the market around the corner. Sora had heard the humming before the door opened, so she and Erdgeist didn't even turn when Belldandy entered.

"You need to open this, Bell," Sora said, letting the curiosity she was feeling get the best of her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Erdgeist nod in agreement. She must have interrupted Belldandy from voicing a greeting, because the Goddess hadn't said anything when she came in.

She turned to look at Belldandy, and she saw a thoughtful look on the other woman's face.

"Do you know who sent it?" Belldandy asked?  
"Not a clue," Sora said, "but we think it might have been from the Mishima Corporation."

At the name, Belldandy's gave a slight questioning frown before tentatively going over to the cupboard and grabbing a knife. She went over to the package, and slit the tape, careful not to damage the box, in case whatever it is needed to be returned.

As Belldandy finished with the tape, she pulled the panels away from one another. What was inside made Sora gasp.

It was a tall humanoid robot wrapped in bubble wrap and cellophane sheets. The silvery metal was dull, and the thing looked to have a single eye in the center of its face that formed what looked like a chevron. Sora squinted, adjusted her glasses, and could finally see through the cellophane that the "v" shape the eyes made had some kind of LED capability to them. The engineering geek in Sora wondered if the whole thing lit up, or if it did a trailing, oscillating effect or one of several dozen other effects.

She shook her head before going over and helping Belldandy to continue unwrapping the unusual robot. After several minutes of pulling or cutting away the plastic, they finally had a better look at the monstrosity.

It was on a four-inch base, but even without it, it would stand at about 2 meters tall. It had some kind of shield that looked like it protected the back of its neck. Sora looked at its hands – claws, really – and was glad that the thing wasn't mobile. It looked like it was some terror from one of those Sci-Fi thrillers like Alien or Predator that she avoided like the plague.

They were all staring at the thing quizzically, until Belldandy noticed the envelope taped to the base near the robot's foot.

"What's this?" Belldandy said aloud unknowingly. Sora didn't say anything; she just let Bell open the envelope and extract out a card with something that looked like a crest on it. Belldandy opened the card and began reading.

"Congratulations!" Belldandy said, her eyes seemed to get brighter with each word, "You have just won the grand prize in our monthly lottery! The Mishima Corporation hopes you will enjoy this authentic Cylon replica!" The Goddess stopped reading for a moment, looked at the replica again in curiosity before continuing, "Thank you for your patronage. Sincerely, the Mishima Corporation. It has a name, but the handwriting is so terrible I can't even tell who signed it."

Sora was nonplussed. When had Belldandy entered a lottery to even get something like this?

"Ah!" the Goddess exclaimed, "I bet this was something I won from that survey I took a week ago!"

Most of those surveys were scams as far as any prizes offered usually were concerned, but who knows? Maybe Bell's uncanny luck _did_ hedge the odds in her favor.

"Whatever it was," Sora said with a sigh, "It's ours now."

"Isn't it cute," Belldandy said, touching the metallic-looking replica with a hand. Sora couldn't say anything in reply, because the ominous look from its lifeless, hulking mass was too much like something out of a horror flick.

"He seems happy to be here," the Goddess continued, "because he likes it better than that dusty warehouse he has been stuffed in."

"What?" Sora asked. Belldandy's powers still had times when they could surprise her even now.

"I said," the other woman repeated, "That he didn't like the warehouse he was stuffed into – it was too dusty. And cold. He added the cold almost as an afterthought, but he really likes how soft and warm the apartment is."

_Great,_ Sora thought, _another tenant._ Hopefully the most he'd need is a battery here and there, and not an umbilical cord to house current. She could almost hear her poor wallet whimper from _that_ strain.

Fortunately, Sora didn't see any plugs protruding from the statue. Hopefully, the most that it would need would be a battery to run whatever features they eye chevron had available to it.

But, where on Earth were they going to put it?

--

Keiichi sighed as he hung up the phone. His boss at the construction company hadn't been too happy with the fact that he had not shown up for work yesterday. It didn't matter to Keiichi's boss if he had been saving a woman from assault, or Astro Boy stopping an invasion of Earth: If you didn't call in, regardless of the reason, you were canned.

So what was he going to do now? He needed cash because his beloved bike was out of commission, but how could he get a job if he didn't have the Beemer to get to the job? It was one of the most annoying bits of circular logic to get caught up in.

Hoshi wasn't helping matters, either. The kid was eccentric, to say the least. He acted like one of those NEET people, the ones that just hide in their rooms all day, living off their parents like parasites as they just talk on the internet all day to others of their kind, but unlike those people, he seemed to get out and talk to people occasionally, and he spent his time responsibly going to his courses daily.

And yet, there Hoshi was, laughing like some nut job, because he finally beat his best score on a game that, from the sound of it, he hated with a passion.

It made absolutely no sense to Keiichi in the least. If you hated a game, why still play it? And what was with the odd uniforms Hoshi wore, anyway?

"I'm going out for a bit, Hoshi," He said, waving over his back to his roommate.

"It's Roberto!" Hoshi hissed, "Dammit! You made me die!"

"I wish," Keiichi muttered under his breath, but shook the acidic comment down. He was better than that.

"Whatever," Keiichi said aloud, sighing, "Have fun, I guess."

"It's not fun," Hoshi, or rather "Roberto" replied, sounding as if he were slamming his keyboard on the table, "It's war!"

"Ok, Ok." Keiichi corrected, "Have fun with your war."

And without staying around to hear the primal noises of frustration become expletives, Keiichi fled the room.

He closed the door behind him, making his way past the rooms of his seniors. Tamiya was on his computer, making just as much of a commotion as Hoshi was, but his sounded more triumphant.

"Take that, you worthless bastard!" Tamiya said, his voice exultant as he leaned to-and-fro in possible synchronization with what he was doing on the screen, "I got you right in the ass with that shot!"

Keiichi decided not to interrupt, and went past Otaki's room. He peeked in to see him crouched over what looked like a laptop. Keiichi was about to say something, when Otaki suddenly growled and cuffed the side of his laptop's display.

"Fuckin' traitor!" he swore looking as if he were going to toss the machine out the window, "We're allies! And don't give me 'Oops' as an excuse either! I'll-" But Keiichi didn't stay to hear the threat, he decided that he'd need to leave before this dorm got any weirder than it was.

Keiichi made it outside, and, with no real place to go now that he was jobless, he decided to see if he could get something from one of the nearby temp places. Of all the jobs he had been on, that had been the first one he had ever been fired from, but somehow, he didn't' seem upset over it, either. If the boss was going to be that much of a hard case for the small amount he paid, then it was no skin off Keiichi's back.

He rubbed his hand through his black hair, and realized that he'd need to get it cut soon – the bangs were almost getting into his eyes, and he preferred not to look like some of the kids mimicking the boy bands in any way, shape or form.

But that was neither here nor there; his need for a job was more prevalent by far.

Which was why he was ecstatic to discover that the temp agency had something on weekends that paid well, and they were looking for someone with both mechanical skills as well as electrical, and he had enough of both for this place's needs.

He thanked the agent to make the call to the potentially new source of cash.

Fortunately for him, he never made it to the interview.


	11. Waiting for the Other Shoe

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Eleven

Waiting for the Other Shoe

Keiichi waited for the bus that would take him from the outskirts of Tokyo to its center as calmly as he could. He felt anxious, because all the time it had taken him to get here brought him that much closer to his job interview working for one of the local businesses as a maintenance man.

His nervousness didn't come just from the potential job, or rather, from what usually happens when he gets a chance to do something that could profit him in some way or another: The world would blow up in his face. It wasn't usually something he did per se, rather, it was inconvenient things like finding out all of the slots were filled up in a certain course he wanted to take that was completely unrelated to his major, or finding out that a part he needed that was on sale for a song had just sold out before he got to the register – even when he had been first in line to get it, no less!

It was these thoughts of dread that had him mentally placing odds on what would keep him from getting the job. So far the percentages hedged to favor mild nepotism in the form of giving a distant cousin down on his luck a chance to get back on his feet. This was followed closely by the bank notifying them not fifteen minutes before his arrival that they were bankrupt and, if they were to salvage the company, they would have to put in a hiring freeze, as well as lay off a good third of the company. This one, he could almost see the guy behind the desk dab his eyes, subtly indicating that he was one of said people let go.

He had to admit though, that a dark horse had come in that he hadn't thought of, but it had become one of the top five in his sense of panic. The earthquake he envisioned wasn't the city-destroying 6.0 or greater catastrophes they always play up in the disaster dramas, yet it would be one convenient enough to halt the busses, power down the block where his interview was, and, most likely, take out the support structures of the place just enough that the place would have to be evacuated, and the job becomes moot in the process.

He knew it was a very specific bet, but he had had such things happen to him before, such as Toudai, the most famous school in Japan, had decided that it would be dropping its distinctive, decorated Automotive design curriculum and only offer its generic Mechanical Engineering major, because of the lack of applicants to the course the year Keiichi had been thinking about applying to it.

The good side, at least, was that Nekoimi had been runner-up to Toudai in that field for the past fifteen years, and it was a far cry cheaper than the Tokyo-based school, as well.

So what this job would take up a chunk of money to get to each weekend? He would be getting paid enough to buy a "subway card", which would reduce the price per ride. If he did a little juggling with his cash, he could just eat lean for the next few days and he would be able to afford one with no trouble.

As he thought of where he could scrimp and save, the bus arrived. It was not quite the typical busses that ran around as public transport, rather it was wider, longer and a good bit taller. It was quieter, as well, which really surprised him, until he remembered how much he had to pay just for the ticket. Still, it was a lot cheaper than the train ticket. He entered the bus and handed over the ticket and he wondered if the subway card gave a reduced fee for the non-city rails, as well. He'd have to look into that, especially since the bullet trains were much faster by comparison.

Keiichi looked up from the ticket dispenser, and started in surprise. Halfway to the back of the bus was a tall blonde woman looking out the window pensively, her head slightly cradled by her arm. She looked familiar to him, and he couldn't place it. Several people behind him excused themselves, and he allowed them, bowing slightly in apology as he did so.

Keiichi finally made his way forward, and realized that all the seats were filled, except the one next to the woman. He steeled himself, and sat next to her, muttering an apology in slightly rusty English as he did so, which caused the woman to look over at him in surprise. This close, she really did look familiar, and it ate at his memory as to why that was so.

Until she smiled warmly at him, that is, then it hit him: He realized that she looked exactly like Belldandy's friend Sif in a picture taken right before they went into their respective roles at the Goddess Helpline.

Keiichi opened his mouth to say something, but refrained when she turned back to looking out the window. He looked at the blonde with interest; she was incredibly tall, since her head, when she had sat up was well above the headrest, and even the way she sat was akin to someone with grace and assurance, which, of course was to be expected from a Goddess, at least the one he had met.

He settled into his seat as the bus continued on its way. He sat for a minute, still determined, but unsure what to say. Should he just tell her how he knew Belldandy, and hoped they would be good friends? Did he compliment her dress and – No; then she'd think that he was trying to pick her up! She was beautiful, but she was definitely wasn't Sayoko.

Keiichi debated with himself for a few more minutes, weighing the pros and cons of talking to a complete stranger in such a familiar way. If he was lucky, she wouldn't get offended that he didn't call her by her last name in a typical greeting, but he had nothing else to go by, considering that Belldandy never mentioned her last name. He squared his shoulders, and decided to just jump right in.

"Excuse me, Miss Sif?" He said uneasily in English. The woman looked over at him a look of annoyance on her face.

"Great," she said, barely loud enough for him to hear, "Another 'fanboy' to deal with."

"Fanboy?" His English wasn't _that_ good, but the annoyance on her face made him swallow hard, thinking that somehow he had botched his introduction.

"I'm sorry, Miss Sif," He said, but she cut him off.

"It's 'Six.' Not 'Sif.'" She corrected a bit testily, "For a fanboy, you sure didn't pay attention to the name."

He just sat there perplexed a moment before regaining some remnant of his composure.

"I'm sorry," Keiichi said again, slightly bowing from his seated position, "I didn't mean to upset one of Miss Belldandy's friends."

The woman looked at him for a moment before speaking.

"What on Earth are you talking about?" She said, the look on her face shifting from disbelief to confusion.

"What?" He asked, completely off reflex. His brain didn't seem to want to try to say anything more complicated.

"I said," She answered a bit slower, "that I wanted to know what on Earth you are talking about."

"Ah," Keiichi said, trying to think of the right phrasing in English, "I did not mean to upset you, Miss… Six. I thought since you were a friend of Belldandy's that I could introduce myself to you. I apologize."

"Wait," the blonde said, "a friend of who?"

"Belldandy," Keiichi said, now unsure if he had been speaking to the right person or not.

"I have no idea who he or she is," The woman said, and seemed to relax; he saw the annoyed look on her face soften a bit, and a small hint of a smile form on her lips. Surely it was Belldandy's friend – Keiichi was good with faces and, except for the hair being a bit paler, this woman was the exact image of Sif.

"I think I owe you an apology," The woman said, slightly bowing as he had, "I think that-"

She shook her head, sighing slightly before continuing, "I know that there must be some misunderstanding here." The blonde then put out her hand to Keiichi, "Pleased to meet you. My name is Tricia."

Keiichi was shocked for a moment, but caught himself from gaping. He had blundered badly! He could feel his cheeks heat as he returned the gesture.

"Keiichi Morisato," he replied, clasping her hand. It felt silky smooth to his touch, causing him to blush deeper. The lady – Tricia – released his hand and smiled.

"Sorry again for the confusion," Keiichi said after a few moments of silence, "but you really are the spitting image of one of my friend's friend." She nodded, considering him for a moment.

"You know," She said, appraising him intensely for a moment, "Your English isn't that bad." He started to shrug, but after the miscommunication between them, he thought he'd better explain.

"My dream is to design cars," He replied, "in most places, the best Research and Development is usually focused in Japan, Germany or the United States." He shrugged self-consciously and was thinking of continuing, but the woman merely nodded.

Tricia was silent for a moment, still giving him an assessing stare. He was about to turn away when she spoke again.

"So, Keiichi," the blonde said, "would you be interested in a job?"

--

Sayoko Mishima waited. What she was waiting for wasn't her usual gaggle of followers, but just one person. She looked at the door to the Campus Center down near the Union Book Store for the person she had only found a name for a mere twelve hours ago.

She had bribed one of the workers in Student Records to identify the man from a picture taken from one of her hotels, implying that it was of the utmost importance that she could put a name to the person as soon as possible. The man had gulped nervously, nodding with enthusiasm before finding the record for Keiichi Morisato in record time.

Then the man pulled up Morisato's schedule for the semester, and Sayoko had to smile. She had been afraid she would have to spend her time out on that cold bench she had met Keiichi at previously and convince him of her intentions.

But now, she was in the warmth of the Campus Center, she could decide how to approach him easier. She could "bump into him" as they both got food, or she could act as if she were waiting for someone and ask about the girl he had been with when she had first conversed with him. Then it would make a perfect opening to give him the offer.

_If only he shows up_, she thought to herself.

While she waited, she thought about this Keiichi Morisato. From everything she had seen of him, he was incredibly average in looks and shorter than average, and that was something, considering how short Japanese people were on average to the rest of the world. He was a member of that eccentric Auto Club for reasons that could only boggle the mind, and yet, he seemed to be surrounded by women lately.

Was it natural charisma? Did he happen to find a _djin_ in a bottle? Whatever it was, it certainly piqued Sayoko's curiosity. Maybe she could talk to him about it over dinner? She sighed, pulling her cell out of her pocket to order a quick lunch from her father's favorite sushi place.

--

Nekimi Tech was turning out to be Urd's kind of town. Since it was a college town, she found no less than four liquor stores in a span of six blocks. She also noted that because of the overwhelming amount of elderly in this particular locale, she found as many as three herbalists, two apothecary shops, four pharmacies, and a couple acupuncturists in an additional five block area.

But right now, she wasn't shopping: She was on the prowl. Urd had to find a man. And not to have a warm, cozy evening while sipping warm sake' either – she needed a specific someone.

And that specific someone got into what looked like a fire-red Ferrari convertible. She squinted her eyes to confirm her prey. The man was yelling at the valet, who merely stood there, nodding and bowing apologetically at certain points in the conversation. Urd casually walked by the driver's side of the open car…

… And blew a fine dust onto the back of the man's head. He swatted at the back of his head and turned around to see what caused it, but Urd was already gone. She had to laugh though, because the man was yelling at the valet for keeping the top down in the cold weather, but it wasn't raining yet, so no problem for that expensive leather seating.

With a wicked grin, Urd snapped her fingers, and the cloud cover changed quickly. The clouds that had been a white marshmallow texture all day thickened and darkened in minutes. Then a small drizzle heralded a torrential downpour mere moments later.

She turned the corner, and casually stood there, acting like she was gazing at her watch. From the corner of her eye, she admired her handiwork. The cloud cover focused only on the block the Ferrari was parked, and the dust she had blown onto Aoshima's head caused his judgment to be impaired when in contact with water, making him fight and fiddle with the controls for the roof with no success. Urd saw the valet escaping the downpour and grinned as Aoshima kept cursing his luck and the poorly-made, expensive vehicle he was now getting soaked in.

Satisfied with her first task of the day, she turned started to work on her second task of finding the anomaly associated with the rogue wish that Sora had made.

--

Keiichi hated the cold. It was one of the things he had hated about his home town and while it could get chilly here, it hadn't felt this cold when he had come to visit the campus on his tour during this exact time of the year.

But the cold really wasn't on his mind right now; he had been replaying his conversation with Miss Tricia in his mind, as well as the events that had followed.

He hadn't expected that he'd ever get hired to work on a movie or television set, yet when the producers of the show said they would need someone to cover maintenance and other miscellaneous tasks, he had felt a bit of trepidation, fearing that the work they would want him to do would foreshadow his education.

But that hadn't been the case; the producers needed someone to work long hours on the weekends to fill in for holes in their usual staff caused by visa issues. They even sweetened the deal with a pre-paid subway card, and the amount that they were paying him was much more than the place he had been going to interview at.

So he had taken the job. He actually started tomorrow night, just to meet the people he'd be working with, and to get a basic overview of what his job would entail. If all went well, he could be back in time for a late supper and to study for his German quiz and maybe finally get the proper capitalization of things firmly squared in his mind.

He entered the Campus Center, looked at the line, and sighed. The line for the food court was huge today, and it was very likely he wouldn't be able to get anything hot or filling to last him the day, so he decided his best bet would be to hit the vending machines. He rummaged in his pockets and found that he did indeed have enough change for a health bar and a large can of hot coffee or tea, so he decided to head by the Student Union before heading to class.

Keiichi was absently counting his coins when he turned the corner. At one of the tables near the Student Union sat Sayoko, typing a number into her cell phone.

Today, she was wearing a dark blue suit-dress with a light blue blouse. He could see that the top button was undone, which was unlike her. Usually the woman was full-tilt professional to the point she appeared to always be on the job.

He felt himself blushing. She looked even more beautiful than she normally did, and he could feel his mouth going dry even as he drew closer to her. Why was he so attracted to her? It couldn't be her personality, because he never really talked to her that much, except for that embarrassing episode when he tried to ask her out using the loaner suit, and the time she had conversed with him as he kept an eye on Belldandy on the bench. It wasn't just her looks, either; granted she was called the Queen of Nekomi not just because of her powerful family giving donations to the school, but also because she had won the previous year's Miss Nekomi in a landslide. No – his attraction for her stemmed from something else. Maybe it was the way she held herself? It was possible that the things he loved about her came from the things he admired most about her, such as her confidence and enthusiasm for the things she enjoyed doing.

In other words, he realized, she was the polar opposite of himself. He didn't have the confidence she conveyed, and his look was always extremely casual to the point of being almost slovenly. His shoulders hunched and he caved into most demands made of him by almost everyone. Keiichi stifled a sigh at his latest epiphany, and continued counting his change.

He thought he'd just pass by, enjoying a moment wherein she was the only other person around, and maybe he could pretend…

He punched down the thought of Sayoko actually coming over to ask him on a date. It was absurd beyond reason! Why would someone like her-

Someone tapped on his shoulder, and he started. He hadn't realized he had just gone by the brunette and had been staring at the vending machines until Sayoko had come over.

"Excuse me," She said, tilting her head slightly to look him in the face, "Have you got a moment?"

Keiichi blinked, nonplussed. He turned to the woman and he could almost feel his face heating.

"S-Sure thing," He said, turning to face her, "what can I help you with?"

She looked as if she were going to say something, but instead glanced around to see if anyone had been watching, and waved him over to the table she had been sitting at. She waved him to the bench opposite from where she had sat before returning to it. He sat nervously, his mind racing at what could have made her invite him over. Had he angered her in some way? Maybe she needed a toady; she didn't seem to have her usual gaggle surrounding her as much anymore so it was possible…

Yet, that's when it came to him. She was related to that lowlife idiot Aoshima. Somehow in defending Belldandy, he had made an enemy out of the one person he had an interest in! He stifled a grimace as he sat, replacing it with a smile as best as he could.

"Is something wrong?" Sayoko said, looking concerned. Well, as concerned as Sayoko could while still keeping her air of authority about her, that is.

"Oh, nothing," Keiichi replied, folding his hands on the table to avoid balling them into white-knuckled fists, "Nothing's wrong. Just surprised is all. Ha-ha." He wanted to smack himself for the completely stupid answer – especially that lame-assed laugh! He wished in the worst way that he could get a "do-over" to get it right.

She looked at him skeptically a moment, then gave him a reassuring smile. Whatever she had planned for him, he was almost certain to dislike it. He never really dealt with people as rich as Sayoko, but between everything he had seen on television and even some of the nightmare stories he had heard from others, he knew that some were little better than the Yakuza; they used their money and power to crush the little guy under their thumb and wouldn't hesitate to do so if their family, honor, fortune or public standing were in jeopardy.

In other words: He was all but a dead man.

"Excuse me," Sayoko said, waving a hand in front of his face, "Are you really sure you're okay?" The look on her face seemed genuine, but still, that niggling part of him told him to flee as quickly as he could.

"Yes," He said, letting loose a bit of a nervous laugh, "It's just that I wasn't expecting…" He sighed, shook himself slightly and tried again, "I was a bit startled that you had wished to speak to me."

Her appearance changed, but only slightly – it was just a slight relaxing of her shoulders and her wide-open eyes returned to their more "natural look" by closing ever so slightly. The small smile she had previously returned, and she folder her hands atop the table the same way he did. He found it odd that she had lined up her thumbs to point directly at him. He felt his shoulders tense as she looked him in the eyes.

"So," Sayoko said, still staring him in the eyes, "I bet you must be wondering why I wanted a moment of your time."

Keiichi didn't reply. He just kept shifting his gaze to the unusual posture from Sayoko. He wanted to fold his arms and lean back, but he knew that would be taken as a defensive posture, so he decided to say nothing, nod slightly and let her continue.

"The truth is," she said matter-of-factly, still giving him an intensive gaze, "I have been interested in you after a certain… Incident… which had transpired not too long ago became known to me."

Keiichi felt himself tense. He wanted to just get up and walk away to end this nightmare, but he had to be polite, now that he had been lured into the trap. He could do so anyway if not before giving his own back.

Sayoko had seemed to sense his tension; her face softened a little more and one of her hands looked as if it were going to reach over to him, before becoming part of that odd way she clasped them together.

"What I mean to say," She added hurriedly, as if she were trying to soothe him, "I find that what you did was incredibly brave." Some of the tension left his shoulders, and Sayoko continued. If she was startled that Keiichi hadn't said anything, she didn't let on.

"That is why," Sayoko continued, "I would like to express the gratitude of the Mishima Corporation for your efforts."

"Um, what?" Keiichi finally said, nonplussed.

"I would like to express my corporation's gratitude for your efforts," Sayoko repeated, softly tapping her thumbs together in what had to be an unconscious manner, "And I would also like to apologize for the actions of someone that is part of our family."

"There's really no need," He said nervously, waving a hand dismissively at the offer, "I would have done it anyway. I really don't need anything."

"It isn't a matter of just wanting or needing," Sayoko replied, unclasping her hands to reach up and push her hair back further from her face in a way that made Keiichi gulp, "It's a matter of obligation."

Keiichi watched her casually twist a wrist to allow Sayoko to glance at her watch, "As of now, Mishima Corporation's worth about 1.7 billion. You could have any wish that you want."

The serious tone and look on her face made Keiichi's mouth go dry.

--

Urd sighed as she went from block to block, adjusting her orange-tinted glasses every so often to make sure the readouts were actually accurate. She checked the atmospheric levels to those in the data. She checked thermals with no variants. Everything seemed normal.

So why was it that the hair on the back of her neck was standing up? That was usually a sign that something, somewhere close by, was horribly, horribly wrong, and it was also why she had been admitted as a system administrator way back when she only had her third class license. Granted her antics kept getting her bounced from grade to grade, but she had to admit it had been worth it; the place seemed less stuffy than when she first went through the doors to Yggdrasil's control room.

Urd brought her thoughts back to the present, and adjusted her scope once more. Maybe infraviolet? Ultrared? The two magical scales showed negative, as well, making her grunt in annoyance. She decided to turn off everything but the tint, and was disappointed that nothing still registered. She kicked a can in frustration, and it ricocheted into the alley.

She blinked. The can had bounced off nothing. She tried to think if it had made a sound or not when it moved, but couldn't be really certain. The platinum-tressed Goddess edged over to the area the ricochet had happened, scanning every available wavelength she could, but stuill pulling negatives on the readings. She was about to give up and call it in, when a thought occurred to her, and she switched to audio topography.

"Paydirt," she said triumphantly. There was a "bending" of the air all around the entrance to the alleyway, as well as bending into the street at an obscure angle. She put her hand out to touch it, and felt nothing. Her hand went through the anomaly without disrupting its waves.

Curious, Urd picked up a piece of newspaper, made sure nobody was looking, and tossed the paper lightly at the anomaly. It bounced off. Moments later, a cat walked towards her, but ended up avoiding the area with the fur of its tail raised, and it kept gazing at the place the unseen disturbance was.

Curious. Maybe she'll have to request a new mode for the lenses, once she got back to Heaven. She wouldn't be able to get a pair of them, otherwise.

Grinning from ear to ear, Urd took off for the apartment. Maybe between herself and Belldandy, they will be able to get this problem squared away with very little difficulty.

--

Sayoko saw the boy's face go from interest to almost panic as soon as she had made the comment on her corporation's net worth. He stammered and his eyes darted from her face to the door to her hands for some reason.

Was he that intimidated by money? Maybe it was her posture? She knew from Father and Mother that poise could convey more about you than words ever could, so maybe her body language was a bit too… aggressive?

She relaxed her posture a bit , but it didn't seem to ease the boy's anxiety one iota.

"I really should be going," He said for what seemed the hundredth time in just a few heartbeats, "I have a quiz today in German, and I don't really want to be late."

"But what about the Mishima Corporation's gratitude?" She asked "Would you like to discuss this another day?"

"No!" Keiichi exclaimed, looking again at the door, "It's fine! You really don't owe me anything!"

She gave him a skeptical look. Everyone wanted something. It was how this sordid little dustball worked. Sayoko decided to test the waters a bit, to see how dark and deep they truly were.

"So," She sighed, looking at him with a casual gaze, "a multi-billion dollar corporation is offering you its gratitude for saving your _own_ girlfriend-"

"Bell isn't my girlfriend!" The boy responded vehemently, frowning intense enough to match the blush on his face, "It's not that I wouldn't want a gi-" Keiichi then cleared his throat, looked away and opted not to say anything further.

"Really?" Sayoko said, keeping her tone neutral. Of course she had already known of the situation from Aoshima and her information network, but she couldn't risk anything that would make him bolt.

"Y-yeah," he said as the flush faded a bit the more he calmed down.

So, why had he done it, if he really didn't have anything to gain? As a matter of fact: If Aoshima would have had his way, Keiichi's life would have been ruined like so many other lived dragged into the dirty business of other rich families. Sayoko though she hid her disgust for those families well.

"Well, then," She said, looking him in the eyes, "It is not just a matter of obligation, it is also a matter of honor!" She separated her hands in an expansive gesture.

"You simply have to let us do something for you," she continued, "You really could have anything you desired…"

After saying that, the boy blushed, breaking her gaze. She felt a smile flick across her face but stamped it down before he could see it.

She cleared her throat instead, pulling his attention back to her.

"Within reason, of course," She said, finishing her sentence with precise timing, "If I may make a suggestion?"

The boy nodded, and Sayoko smiled. Perhaps this wouldn't be as much as a chore as she originally feared.

--

Keiichi walked in a daze. Somehow, Sayoko Mishima had offered him the one thing he had really wanted, as if she could read his mind! He could barely hear her ask him to join her for a nice dinner at one of their family's restaurants, and he didn't remember if he had simply nodded his acquiescence, or if he had practically jumped for joy the moment the words left her soft, peach-colored lips. He felt too numb to even review his memory to see how much of an idiot he had made of himself.

He felt so numb, because he couldn't believe the events of the last few days: It was almost as if he were watching someone else's life on television. For all intents and purposes, he normally would have been hired for intense manual labor for practically pennies (as well as the damned job consuming most, if not all of his study time) instead of honest pay for honest work for a production company.

He also noted that heiresses to multi-national conglomerations normally didn't offer to go out with him – especially those that he had immense crushes on! It never happened to Keiichi Morisato in the past, and it felt way too unreal for it to be happening now.

And that's when the nausea struck. He _had _been asked out by the multi-billion-dollar heiress! He _had_ the job working for a television production company!

So, when was it all going to go to shit? Was Keiichi going to blow up the set? Maybe ruin what little self-respect he had for himself being the fool around the one person he wanted to impress? His mind reeled in synch with his roiling stomach, and he felt as if he needed to sit down for a bit.

But he had classes to go to, and he wasn't going to be able to pass German if he didn't resolve those capitalization issues he had been having. Keiichi swallowed and steeled himself to go to class.

He never made it to his German class. He took five steps, turned around and retreated towards the clubhouse. Keiichi closed the door behind him, barely registering that he had even made it there in the first place, and crashed on the couch, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Murphy's going to bite me in the backside," He said aloud to nobody in particular, "I can feel it." He turned onto his side and look through the window, still wondering when his bad luck would return.


	12. Unheard Thanks

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. Note: The book, and the idea for the Book came completely from Davner, and if he ever wants to use it for anything he's written, whether original or fan fiction, it's all his. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Twelve

Unheard Thanks

"That's great!" Sora said to the slumped over Keiichi sitting at her kitchen table, his head resting on his arms as if they were a pillow, "Do you know where she's going to take you yet?"

"No," Keiichi replied, the words muffled, "I still have to get settled at the new job, so she gave me some time to do that."

Sora nodded. She didn't know Sayoko Mishima that well, but the few times she had worked with the woman, showed her to be very pragmatic about things.

"Still," Sora said, absently tapping her fingers on the tabletop, her chin resting on her other hand, "I think you need to get it done as soon as possible. A woman like that wouldn't want to deal with someone who procrastinates."

Keiichi didn't answer, so she continued.

"You need to knock her socks off," Sora said, now drawing little swirlies with her fingertips, "You'll need to impress her big-time. Maybe get her flowers? How about a thank-you gift?" She tapped her lips for a moment, thinking of a gift the boy could give to the heiress that could have anything she wanted.

"Maybe a bottle of perfume?" Sora suggested, shrugging to herself, "Girls like perfume. It probably wouldn't hurt to get her some Chanel No. 5. What do you think, Keiichi?"

She turned to look at the boy, awaiting his response.

"Keiichi?" She said after a moment's silence. She reached over to shake him, but stopped when she heard a faint snore emanating from him.

With a sigh, Sora pushed away from the table, grabbed her textbook, and proceeded to work on her homework. She was almost finished when Belldandy and Urd came home from wherever they had gone to.

"Hi," she said, closing her book, "Did you find the whatever-it-was?"

"The anomaly," Urd replied, tossing her coat onto the back of a chair while Belldandy hung hers up on the coat rack, "We checked it out, and it is very likely that this is the source of a lot of problems." She flicked a glance at Keiichi, and turned back to Sora, "But we won't know for sure until we can get into the place. Is he dead or something?"

"Nah," Sora answered, "He just had a longer night than usual at his new job."

"The TV place?" Urd asked. Sora nodded.

"It seems to be going well?" Urd continued, not looking at the boy, which was a big giveaway to Sora that Urd was actually worried about him. She held her expression firm, to prevent the smile from showing.

"Yeah." Sora answered. Urd nodded.

"Good," Urd said, still not looking at Keiichi, "Good. I'm going to my room for a bit." She waved and made her way outside to the tool shed she had appropriated from the landlord.

"She likes him, doesn't she?" Sora said when the door finally closed.

"Of course she does," Bell replied, "He's a good man. Anyone would like him."

Sora sighed. Was Bell really serious? Maybe she was teasing Sora for making the question so vague, but she very much doubted it. Sora debated with herself on whether to clear up her meaning with the Goddess, but finally decided that her homework wasn't going to do itself. She opened her book and continued from where she left off.

--

Urd was almost done with her latest concoction. It just needed a few seconds more of simmering, a touch of some ginger, and voila! Instant love potion! She rubbed her hands in glee, hoping to try it on those two love-struck kids she always watched walking past the apartment on their way to school. She was a Goddess of love, so it was her duty to get them together.

The fact that she could put her two cents in on their relationship was just icing on the cake.

Urd was about to finish the potion off, when there was a knock on the shed's door.

"Come," She said, watching the bubbling of the brew slow as it thickened.

"Hi Ur-Ack!" Keiichi said behind her. She didn't have to look to know that he was probably holding his nose and looking as if he were going to dry retch; she had put on a gas mask specifically to kill the noxious fumes created from these final few moments of the concoction's simmering process.

"Did you kill a skunk or something?" The boy asked, still holding his nose as he crouched beside her.

"No," Urd replied tartly, "Now give me those foreceps if you are going to get in my way." Keiichi looked on the ground, grabbed said tools and offered them to her. She nodded in thanks, not taking her eyes from the purpling mix before her.

"So, if it's not dead skunk," Keiichi asked through squinting eyes, "What on Earth is it?"

"A love potion," she answered, gently pinching a long, gnarled gingerroot in the forceps before dropping it into the vat ever so gently to keep the brew from spilling on her. The purple began to redden once the root had been stirred into the potion.

"Really?" Keiichi said, his tone unable to hide his shock, "That unholy mix of whatever?"

"Yes," Urd snapped, "Really. Now shut up, or it's going to get worse."

The boy complied, and Urd pulled the cauldron off of the burner with oven-mitted hands, and began pouring it onto ice cube trays with dried herbs in them. Keiichi succumbed to the fumes a bit and turned away coughing. Urd, unperturbed in her gas mask, finished pouring the stuff into their new setting containers, and watched as the separated cubes turned green as they cooled and hardened.

Satisfied that the potion had been completed properly, she took off her mask.

"Done," Urd said, beaming at the boy still hunched over, dry-heaving and coughing on the shed's floor. She knew he couldn't see her, but Urd didn't care; she knew that this new concoction was going to work hands-down.

"So," Urd began, "what do you need?"

Keiichi froze with a surprised look on his face. Really, couldn't he see that he was probably the easiest person to read she had ever met?

Come to think of it though, that wasn't a bad thing; he was also one of the most honest, open people she had met, as well. Maybe it was a trait for this type of person.

"How did-" Keiichi began, but Urd put a finger to his lips, making him blush.

"Trade secret," She whispered into his ear, taking great delight in the nervous look on his face, "If I told you, let's just say that the aftermath wouldn't be… Pleasant."

She smirked as she heard him gulp loudly. Urd never had this much fun teasing someone. Ever.

"Still," Urd continued, turning away as she moved away from the bundle of nerves that was Keiichi, "You have come to a Goddess for assistance, so," the platinum-haired woman leaned against the wall casually, putting on her best business face, "how can I help you?"

Keiichi swallowed visibly once again, still flushing. Was he always like this? Urd eyed her solidifying potion and noticed that one of them wasn't setting properly. Damn. The fumes from the one not setting meant that she hadn't put in enough mint, and so, it was now vaporizing.

And that meant Keiichi was in trouble.

She casually took his hand, making him blush, which, now that she knew the cause of his discomfiture, made _her_ blush a bit, as well. She managed to drag him outside into the fresh air, and was glad to see him recover quickly.

"So," Urd repeated," How can I help you today?"

Keiichi shook himself, and squared his shoulders.

"I need a gift," he said. Urd blinked, perplexed.

"What?" the goddess asked.

"I need a gift," He repeated, "I need something for someone that could have anything she wanted, but simple things would just be annoying trinkets."

Ooh! A challenge! Urd wanted to rub her hands together in glee again, but merely clasped them in front of her in a somber gesture.

"The problem is," Keiichi continued, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, "I have absolutely no idea what kind of person she is. I was thinking of getting her tea cups with matching saucers, but I thought the idea was too lame, the more I thought about it."

He shrugged in apology, "I was talking to Sora and Belldandy, but they didn't offer anything that sounded right. They mentioned that you were a love goddess and so…" He shrugged again, hoping the absence would speak for itself. Urd nodded thoughtfully a few moments, pulling at her lower lip in thought.

"A book," She said after a few minutes of silence. Keiichi stared at her.

"A book?" He parroted, still not believing what he heard. Were humans really this dense?

"A book," Urd repeated, nodding to hide her exasperation, "but not an ordinary book. A magical one."

--

Sora had watched Keiichi go out the door to Urd's shed, worrying that he might get pulled into one of Urd's harebrained schemes. So far, the Goddess had tried to slip no more than three love potions, two aphrodisiacs and a plethora of unknown powders into her and Belldandy's food to get them acting "more like a couple" than roommates.

But Sora was happy that there had been no further developments from the self-proclaimed love goddess. Even without the hopes of attracting that slime Aoshima's attention (Really, what had she been thinking when she fell for him?) she didn't see herself as really, truly settling down with the Goddess.

The anomaly made the thought even less plausible, especially when Sora considered that, once this anomaly was cleared up, Belldandy could break the wish and return to Heaven.

She stomped down the minute sadness that drifted in her thoughts for a moment with a sigh. She knew she would miss Bell's cooking, but she knew it was for the best that they both return to their normal lives as soon as possible. She didn't want to anchor Bell here against her will, nor did she want that evil, horrible statue-thing in this house any further. She had wanted to get rid of it on eBay or Craigslist or one of those online flea markets, but Belldandy had persuaded her against it several times.

It didn't make Sora like it: As a matter of fact, when she found out it was representative of sentient robots bent on the destruction of humanity, it made her want to get rid of it even faster.

Bell thought it was _cute_ though. How she could think such a metallic monstrosity could be cute was beyond Sora, but if Belldandy wanted it to stay, she really couldn't begrudge the Goddess's earnest plea.

But she really, _really_ hated it. And now ErdGeist was starting to take an interest in it. Thankfully, he hadn't been spending much time in the apartment; he had been trying to make up for time lost when his powers had been hindered by making all the plants in the neighborhood's apartment complexes bloom and grow better in their respected homes.

Which meant that he wasn't popping up behind her at random times, startling the living daylights out of her. She enjoyed the quiet, but part of her wanted him to come back; it was almost like the house was emptier without him there.

She broke from that train of thought, looking at the woman who was busy at the stove, warming up handmade hot cocoa. Suddenly, the Goddess took a pinch of something, sprinkling it in, and the scent changed drastically.

Cinnamon. The delicate hint of the spice made Sora smile: When it came to making foods that made someone feel contentment, Belldandy could decimate anyone with her skills.

Sora's smile faded. Belldandy had it all – looks, brains, cooking skills. It made Sora feel very self-conscious. The Goddess's confidence only seemed to enhance these traits, kinda like the cinnamon was enriching the cocoa.

"What's wrong?" Belldandy said, shaking Sora out of her thoughts. She turned to see the Goddess's worried expression. Sora merely sighed and shrugged.

"It's nothing," She murmured. Belldandy turned down the heat, poured the cocoa into two cups, offering one to Sora as she sat.

"You know that's not true," Belldandy replied. Sora looked into her mug and shrugged noncommittally.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" the Goddess asked, putting a hand atop of one of Sora's, "It would help you feel better."

Sora hesitated. How did one explain their fears and self-loathing to someone as perfect as Bell? She continued to look into her cocoa to try to find the answers she needed, and found only chocolaty bubbles staring back at her.

After a few more minutes, of staring into the mug, Sora decided that she would tell Belldandy what was bothering her. They had been living together for a few months now, right? If anyone would be able to at least understand her, it had to be Bell. With a sigh, she squared her shoulders, looked Bell in the eyes, and began to tell her what had been bothering her.

--

"A magical book," Keiichi said, still disbelieving the Goddess's suggestion, "For a person who, like most of the business world, probably doesn't even believe in magic, let alone read books that aren't engaged in telling someone how to run a better business."

"Precisely," Urd replied. Keiichi looked like he was going to say something else, but once again, Urd put her fingers to his lips, "Uh-uh! You're going to let me finish!" Once Keiichi nodded, she put her hand down and explained.

"The point of a magical book, is what it can and cannot do," She said. When Keiichi nodded, she continued, "The particular book I have in mind, is one that'll be made for her and only her, making it original, unique, and most of all, engaging for her to read. Even if she skimmed a few pages, she would read it and continue to do so."

"But," Keiichi began, but Urd interrupted him.

"You're thinking about her spending so much time in the book, she would get obsessed, aren't you?" Keiichi nodded, and Urd grinned.

"And that is precisely why the book would segment itself into short stories!" Urd said, triumphantly. The boy still looked skeptical and confused.

Urd tried very hard not to smack her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"Ok," She said, trying to pick her phrasing better, "With short stories, you have a breaking point. In a magical book, these stories are designed to make the owner of the book put it down after each story until the book is needed again."

"Like a manual?" Keiichi aked.

"Exactly!" Urd cried, happy that he was getting the point, "yet, there is enough difference to keep it from becoming a stupid self-help book, or even a boring, stuffy manual."

"How so?" The boy asked, and Urd grinned.

"Because, no matter how perfect a princess's life might be, it's never that perfect," She said, "There are things a princess could not talk about to anyone, so what if the book 'spoke for her?' What if it related her fears, frustrations, and insecurities to her in a story, and helped her resolve those issues?"

Keiichi thought for a bit. Urd could see that the idea had some merit to the boy, but would he buy into it? She was worried that, knowing how she had tried to make changes to her sister and Sora's relationship, that she might try to do so here. She slightly bit her lip as she waited for him to decide.

"I think," Keiichi said slowly, "That it might be perfect."

_YES!_ Urd said to herself. _He's going for it!_

"But," Keiichi said, holding up three fingers, "There are a few restrictions."

_Shit,_ Urd thought. She was already thinking of ways around the restrictions even before he mentioned them.

"Okay," she sighed, "What restrictions?"

"One," Keiichi said, "No spiking the book with love spells or the like."

That would be easy. What she had planned wouldn't need those spells.

"Sure," she said, still formulating her plan.

"Two," He said, "No direct mention of myself or herself or our avatars in the story falling in love. As a matter of fact: No avatars _whatsoever._ Have the main person, whether male or female be someone she can relate to – not just her in a story."

This made her plan even easier! She smiled and nodded.

"Okay," she said, still smiling, "Can-do!"

"Great," he said, "and finally: The only thing that this book will do, is help her decide what to do in any situation, showing her the consequences of the both the 'right' or the 'wrong' decision, whichever is strongest in her heart and mind."

_Shit,_ Urd thought, her smile faltering,_ shit, shit, SHIT!_

"Is something wrong?" Keiichi asked innocently.

"No," Urd said, laughing nervously. The boy must have figured out that she was going to use the decisions of the protagonist to shape Sayoko's choices! Keiichi was cleverer than she took him to be!

"Great," He said, approaching and patting her shoulder, "I'll leave it up to you."

Urd blinked, still disbelieving that Keiichi had been able to come up with her plan in such a short time. She opened the door to the shed and stood there, dumbfounded at how easily he had seen through her.

He was quite the interesting guy, this Keiichi Morisato. She was going to have to be careful around him.

She blinked as she realized she was staring at the hand she had covered his mouth with. The boy – no, the man was really something. He put himself above others, he was smart, kind, gentle, and strong-willed, even though he might not believe himself to be.

And he had saved his sister. She owed him, and so, she was going to follow his request, knowing that, what he truly wanted, was for the person that he loved to love him back with no doubts, reservations, or special aid.

She admired that. And who knows? Maybe…

She sighed, and closed her eyes, bringing her hand to her lips.

Just maybe…

--

Belldandy sat across from Sora, looking at her hands in contemplation. She had listened to Sora pour out all her doubts and worries and now, in the silence, Sora feared what Belldandy would say. Sora thought that Belldandy would think that she was being childish and petty, that she needed to grow up and-

"Oh, dear," Belldandy finally said, breaking Sora's train of thought, "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

Sora sat there, shocked.

"But, Belldandy said, gripping Sora's hand reassuringly as she smiled, "This is something easy that I can help you with!"

"Excuse me," Sora said, "what?"

She knew it wasn't a comprehensible sentence, but still, she needed to understand the madness behind the Goddess's rationale. Maybe if she explained better…

"This is about confidence," Belldandy said, nodding to herself, "and I know just the thing to give it to you!"

"You do?" She asked, curious.

"_Of course!_" the Goddess smiled, "The Miss Nekomi competition!"

"Again," Sora said, puzzled at Bell's train of thought, "_what?!?_"

"You are a beautiful person," Belldandy said, "You really are. The problem is that _you_ don't feel that way. Once you start thinking that you are, it _will_ happen."

Sora looked down at herself, then back to Belldandy.

"I think you might need these," Sora said, offering her glasses to the hazel-haired woman. Belldandy shook her head, but took the glasses from Sora and put them on the table.

"While I think that you look fine the way you are," Belldandy said, evaluating Sora to the point she felt uncomfortable, "you do need to change a few small things here and there, just to convince _yourself_." Belldandy nodded to herself, tapping a finger to the side of her nose and winking, "And I know these small changes will make a _world_ of difference!"

--

Sayoko dabbed her mouth with a cloth napkin before nodding to the waiter. He came over fluidly, bowed, and took her dinner plates away.

"My compliments, as ever, to the chef," Sayoko said, feeling satisfied with the well-prepared beef bourgonoin that she had just finished.

"Would you like to see the dessert menu?" The waiter asked, looking at her with reverence.

"Thank you," she answered, "but not this time. Could you please bring me a crème broule'?"

"As you wish, Madame," he said, bowing once again. The waiter was back in moments with her dessert, and a refill for her coffee. The one thing she liked about Shirou was that he had the foresight to refill her coffee without prompting. Maybe she should hire him to work on her personal staff?

Yet, if she did that, she would miss his presence here. And he was one of the reasons, along with the chef's brilliance, that kept her coming back. This place wasn't owned by her family, so in a way, it was a guilty pleasure for her.

She did like the atmosphere immensely, she added in hindsight. She finished her meal and left, knowing full well that the bill and tip would be paid without hesitation the next day by her butler. She waved goodbye to the staff, and made her way to the elevator.

As the elevator descended, a thought came to her. What if she took that unusual boy to this restaurant? True, it wasn't quite how she should repay him, as it should be done using completely Mishima resources, but this place was a gem that anyone would enjoy. Maybe it would also give him a little bit of a perspective into how she worked, as well.

She started, glad that she was alone in the elevator. Why had she thought that? It had to be to let Mister Morisato know that there was more to the Mishimas than money and power. She had to make an impression on him, both for herself and her family, and who knows? Maybe the unusual student would actually be entertaining in his own right? She knew it was too much to ask for, but who knew?

She sighed in annoyance with herself. She just wanted this over with, yet she had to wait for his schedule to open up! Usually everyone waited on _her_ responses! It was frustrating change, to say the least.

The elevator opened, and she exited, nearly running into a short, elderly woman.

"Excuse me, miss," the elderly woman said, putting up a hand to Sayoko, "But you seem to have something stuck in your hair."

Sayoko blinked. She was always impeccable! Yet, even as she thought it, the woman reached out, pulled at her hair, and a small fragment of something, stuck to one strand of hair.

"It looks like," The elderly woman said, squinting at the detritus, "Yes: It seems that you picked up a bit of velour. You might want to have your upholstery checked, my dear." And with a small, polite bow, the old woman disappeared into the elevator.

Velour, huh? The restaurant used satin on its cushions, so it probably meant that her favorite chair at home was wearing thin again. As Sayoko waved the valet over to her, she made a mental note to herself to have her maids look into calling the upholsterer to replace the worn fabric.

--

Urd released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding once the elevator's doors closed. She looked at her hand and smiled. It had gone a lot better than she had feared. With this small strand of hair, she'd be able to bind the book to her.

She looked at it closely. Yes, small bits of skin clung to the strand – more than enough to make the spell work. Urd opened her cloak, pulled out a baggie, and slipped the hair into it. She then replaced the baggie, and smiled.

Now, all she needed to do was find the perfect book. From the look of this place, Urd thought Sayoko had a tendency to like not only the finer things in life, but also things that had some history to them.

The gears ground in her head as she went through all the types of book someone with those tastes would like. Sif? No. Peorth? Maybe, though she did have the odd habit of watching NASCAR occasionally.

Frigga? Possibly, but her adopted stepmother still had issues with drinking.

And then it hit her. Freya loved books. She had all types from all around the world. Urd bet she could get the woman's opinion on the correct shape, and size – hell even the appropriate color that would make Sayoko not refuse it! She opened up her pocketbook, and flipped open her cell.

After several moments of dialing in the number, she heard the line on the other end pick up.

"Hello?" The woman with one of the richest, sultriest voices Urd had ever heard (which made her incredibly jealous each time she heard it) answered.

"Aunt Freya?" Urd said into her phone, "It's Urd. I need help with a little project."

"No," The answer came without hesitation.

"Wait!" Urd said, instinctively holding out her hand in a pleading gesture, "It's not for me! I need help with a gift!"

There was a long pause. "You have two minutes to explain." Freya said, making Urd sigh in relief.

"A mortal helped Belldandy, and now, he needs to give someone a gift. What style of book would you give a rich bitch that seems disgusted with her peers, but still has an affectation towards classic, modern, and a small hint of opulence?"

Another pause, then the voice on the other end replied.

"A blue book, gold trim and writing with an embossed _fleur-de-li_s pattern."

"Thanks, Auntie Freya! Love ya!" Urd hung up after making kissy noises into the phone.

--

Sora blinked at the Goddess, straining her eyes to see her without the aid of her glasses, which were still in Bell's possession. It wasn't working, but still, it made her feel as if she were paying attention to what Belldandy had been saying.

"A few minor changes?" Sora parroted. Was the Goddess serious? She looked into the mirror every day, so she knew that Belldandy didn't have too much to work with. Now, if Bell was a plastic surgeon…

"You really don't need surgery," Bell's tone said. She could almost see the soft-blurred woman in front of her darken in disapproval, Maybe a spot of makeup, a new hair style, and-"

"Whoah! Wait!" Sora said, waving her arms in protest, "I am not going to be a 'Butch' whatever anyone thinks!"

"Nobody ever asked you to change your name," Belldandy said slowly, as if she were talking to a child, "I was thinking maybe a small trim to your bangs and ends, and maybe a perm and a bit of makeup that fit your skin tone."

Sora frowned. Did Bell really not understand her concerns? A comforting hand on hers was all the answer she needed.

"Don't worry," the Goddess soothed, "everything will be fine."

Like the _Titanic_ had been fine on its maiden voyage? Whatever. All Sora had to lose was her dignity – what little of it was left, that is.

She felt something slip into her hand before Bell's retreated. The cold feel of the metal let her know that she was back in possession of her glasses. She put them on and looked at Belldandy, who smiled before returning to her seat.

It was infectious, that smile that Belldandy flashed. It also seemed to warm her up as if she had already drank the cocoa.

Remembering the drink, she took a sip. It really _did_ spread warmth through her, and the sweet, spicy taste made her tensions and doubt drain out of her. The woman truly was amazing with what she could do with food. If the Goddess ever opted to open a catering business, Sora was sure that she'd be raking in the millions in a heartbeat.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Urd slamming the door closed. Sora felt her face flush as Urd stormed past the kitchen area, pulling the partition and the door closed behind her. She looked at Bell, who merely shrugged, still holding a hint of smile on her face as she sipped the cocoa. Suddenly, the door opened up, and Urd popped her head back out.

"Don't disturb me for any reason for about three hours. On pain of… well, pain. Got it?" Her face didn't seem angry, just... Focused. It was as if she were studying for her graduate qualifiers, or to get her medical license. Or maybe something that was so intense, it would blow up the apartment if the slightest thing went wrong. The thought of Urd potentially blowing up the apartment made her shiver.

"Sure," Sora said, shrugging, "whatever."

Urd looked at her sister, nodded once, then slammed the sliding door shut once more. What was the elder Goddess thinking? Sora was tempted to snoop, but decided not to. From the few stories Bell had told her about her older sister, Urd was likely to zap you with lightning faster than you could say "oops" if you distracted her.

"So," Sora said turning back to her "wife", "what exactly do you have in mind? About my hair, I mean."

She saw Bell's eyes brighten. The wisps of her hair bobbed as she leaned closer to Sora, as if plotting some great conspiracy.

"I was thinking," Belldandy whispered, probably to keep from disturbing her elder sister, "maybe giving your hair a little bit of a shape, and making it wavy. It would frame your lovely face without hiding it, and you wouldn't need to wear the headband to keep it out of your eyes! Two birds with one stone!"

Sora nodded weakly, gathering up the courage to ask the next question.

"When would we be doing this?" She inquired. Bell thought for a moment, before answering.

"The contest is mid-March," she said, "once the weather has warmed up considerably. That gives us," She glanced at the calendar, "Three and a half weeks. But since we want you to get used to the style beforehand, I think we should cut your hair as soon as possible."

Sora sat there, speechless. After a few moments, she recovered.

"So," she said nervously, "Maybe a week or two?"

"I was thinking tonight." The Goddess answered. That way, it'll grow out more if it needs it."

"Great," she murmured weakly. Why didn't Bell just shave her bald while she was at it?

"Really?" Bell asked, "I can cut it tonight?"

"Sure." Sora replied, "Why not. It isn't like I have had this same hairstyle my whole life or anything."

"Okay!" Bell said, getting up from the table, "I'll be right back. I just need to go to the store and get some things!"

"Yeah," Sora said, putting her head down on her arms, "Fine. Whatever. See you in a bit." She absently lifted one in a half-hearted wave goodbye.

She didn't hear the Goddess leave. She just stayed there, head down, worrying about losing the one part of her that had been consistent, ever since she was a child.

--

Urd stared intently on the dusty, age-worn harlequin romance novel before her, trying to stifle her disgust. The things read like a formula more than a story, so it was a far, far better thing that it was about to become. She closed her eyes, silently chanting the first part of the spell, visualizing the symbols that went with it as if they were intricate little notes to a complex song. After the chanting, she began to draw the symbols, lining each one up delicately next to its sister as they encircled and covered the book. If she could get further up and squint her eyes, she would see the pattern the embossing would leave as the book grew in size.

She absently wiped the sweat off her brow with her left hand, continuing her designs with her right.

As she finished the final script, she looked down at the book, wondering why she was really doing this. True, she really did owe her sister's savior something, but a gift for someone else? No, it was also her pride as a love goddess, and the fact that she had given advice in such a capacity.

Still: _Why_ was she doing it? Usually, she would only do something for someone if she got something out of it. Why change her methods _now?_ She sighed in disgust, and continued on with the spell.

This time, she had to sing it, making the harmonies flow as the script had, giving the book its newer shape. At the end, she would need to take the hair out, put it in the book, and the book would bind itself to the woman Keiichi intended it for.

She almost hesitated in her song. She really didn't want to complete the book for some reason, but now that she had started it, she should continue before she botched the whole job, and ended up with a man-eating book the size of Godzilla.

So, why did she not want to make the book? It wasn't that she hated Keiichi. No, as a matter of fact, she had become quite fascinated with how he blushed like a schoolboy every time she flirted with him.

Urd also enjoyed how he smiled, and she had felt warm and fuzzy inside when he had smiled so warmly after she had offered to make the book.

The book. She really needed to stop her mind from drifting! The only thing that mattered at this moment was the book.

The book for Keiichi to give to another woman.

Urd clenched her fists in annoyance, and returned her thoughts back to the song she needed to sing. She was coming up to the bridge of it, and needed to be sure that her pitch and the timing of the words were spot-on.

She finished the bridge, and reached for the baggie holding the piece of Sayoko's hair, opening it as she continued the musical notes. She opened the book about halfway and started to put the strand of hair into it…

And hesitated again. Thankfully, it wasn't long enough to break the spell, but she had unconsciously pushed it closer than she should have.

But the spell was complete now, or mostly: All she needed to do was finish the last few notes, pick up the book, and put it front-cover-down on the lower part of the magical diagram, and she was done.

After finishing the spell, she looked up at the clock Sora had put in the big room. It was well past eight o'clock, and the darkness began to creep into the room as the power sigils faded, absorbed by the morphing book.

Urd stood up, picked up the finished book, and opened the door.

What she saw startled her. Bell was hunched over someone sitting in a chair, not moving. Recovering, Urd grinned. It looked like she had been worrying too much about something she didn't have to.

"I see that you two have finally decided to seal your marriage," Urd said slyly, "Do you need me to get a room for the night? Heck, I could just sleep in the shed!"

Bell had jumped up as she had spoken, looking surprised at her sister. Urd could see that it was indeed Sora in the chair, but she was different from the last time Urd had seen her a few hours before. Her glasses were gone, her bangs were shorter, and the rest of her hair was now framing her face in waves.

Urd was impressed. Sora couldn't pass for a supermodel, but that wasn't a bad thing – she didn't look anorexic or artificial, but she was definitely a lot prettier than she usually made herself appear. Sora was blushing, probably from both Urd's comments, and the fact that someone had seen her before her makeup had been completed.

Urd did a low whistle.

"Wow!" Urd said, focusing all of her attention on Sora, "If I swung that way, I think I would be asking you to a bar right about now!" The comment had the desired effect, as Sora's blush deepened from a soft pink on her cheeks to a deep red that crept well past her scalp line.

"On second thought," She said, grinning evilly, "Maybe I'll ask you to join me, anyway. I'll be sure to land at least one, maybe two dates with you there to be my wing-woman."

"Neesan," Belldandy said, frowning, "That's not nice to say. You're embarrassing her!"

"No need to be jealous, Sis," Urd replied, shrugging, "I just wanted to see if she looked as cute in purple, as she did in pink and red."

"Neesan-" Bell stressed again, and Urd put up her hands in surrender.

"I know," she said, trying to act as if she had been chastised, "I'll behave. Honest." She went to the coat rack, picked up her jacket, and opened the door.

"For what it's worth," Urd said, stepping halfway through the doorway, "You really do look cute. Later." She waved before disappearing through the door into the crisp night air of Nekomi.

--

Keiichi had been put in charge of the dorm again. Everyone, even his new roommate had plans for the night, so he had been elected once again to mind the place until someone else came back.

There was a knock on the door, so he got up to get it. Seconds later, the knocking continued.

"I'm coming!" He shouted, but added in a mutter, "It's not the end of the world, you know." He opened the door, expecting someone looking for one of the seniors, or even one of Hoshi's online friends looking for him.

He was surprised when he opened the door, and stood looking at Urd, her arms crossed and not looking too happy.

"Urd-" He said, but was cut off, when a book was slammed into his stomach hard enough to make it become an "oof" instead.

"Here's your book," the platinum-haired Goddess muttered, not looking at him for some reason, "Just remember that it is a book for Sayoko, okay?"

He started to smile, until he saw that she had turned her back to him. Had he done something to her? Was his hair sticking up funny, and she didn't want to look at him?

"Gotta run," She said, still not looking at him, "Later," She threw a slight wave at him and retreated down the street, back to Sora's apartment, no doubt.

He looked at the book curiously. It was a navy blue and, even though it looked old, its color and gold leafing hadn't faded in the least.

Intrigued, he opened it. It was blank inside, but after Urd's offhand comment about it being only for Sayoko, he understood. If she hadn't told him, he probably would have thought that the book was defective, and either tossed it, asked her to fix it, or both.

"Thanks," He whispered to the last place he had seen the Goddess, "I owe you one."

Keiichi closed the door behind him, his head spinning with thoughts. Now that all the pieces had been set, he could tell Sayoko that he would be delighted to join her for dinner.

His hands were trembling, but Keiichi barely registered it. He was playing the scenario over and over in his mind, trying to get the words sorted in his mind.

He was so intent on staring at the book, trying the words over and over again in his mind to accept Sayoko's offer, that he never even heard his senior's phone ringing in the other room.


	13. The other shoe falls

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks yet again go to Davner, not only for the book idea, but for his insights when I wasn't happy with the content, and rewrote multiple pages at a time. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Thirteen

The Other Shoe Falls

It was a somewhat surreal setting. Keiichi was standing in the main hall, barely listening to Tamiya and Otaki complaining about how he didn't answer the phone for them when he clearly had been home, and yet, both of them wore shirts with slogans saying "Morisato for Pres" emblazoned on both sides with him poorly photo-shopped into Science Fiction backdrops with either high-tech vehicles or seductively-clad women.

He stifled a yawn, barely paying attention. His mind still played through countless scenarios where he goes to speak to Sayoko, and offers her the book that Urd had made for him.

The book. He still had trepidations about it. Was it really going to work the way Urd said it would? What if she rejected the gift and just laughed at him for his foolishness.

But worse: What if Urd's spell blew up in Sayoko's face? At best, he could hope that the woman would never speak to him again. He didn't want to even consider what the worst case would be.

The two larger men were still going on with their rant about how Keiichi should have picked up the phone, and Keiichi barely paid attention to them. When they came to a pause in their tirades, Keiichi turned and started walking out of the room.

"Morisato!" Tamiya bellowed, "Where do you think you're going? I'm not done!"

"Yes, you are," Keiichi said, grabbing his coat, "I am _not_ your personal answering machine."

He never heard their replies; he had already closed the door behind him.

What were those two thinking? He didn't mind offering to help out if it was something important, but really: Answering _phones?_ He was not their personal secretary, and he sure as hell wasn't getting paid to be one.

As he walked towards the Quad, he stopped, staring at the paper lying in the street.

There was a huge picture of Sora holding her pocketbook above her head, a snarl of rage on her face. She looked to be ready to deal another blow to the cringing form that just had to be Aoshima. He bent to pick up the paper, expanding it so he could see the rest of the headline, and the caption text.

"SPANKED!" The headline said. Keiichi blinked. He knew the true story behind Sora's attack, but since this was NT News at its "best", it still required a look for fire control purposes.

"Sora Hasegawa (above) brings her own brand of 'discipline' to Toshiyuki Aoshima (below) after heinous incident."

Keiichi read on as he walked, intrigued and horrified at the same time. He still couldn't decide if it was the funniest thing he had seen, or if it truly was a nightmare; some people were just too stupid to realize how fake the article was, and would almost take it as whole-hearted truth. He only had to look at the Auto Club Seniors to see that.

"'As for me,'" Keiichi read aloud as he continued walking along the footpath heading to Nekomi proper, "'_I'd_ be more than happy to have her as _my_ disciplinarian, if you know what I mean.' What kind of crap is that?" He closed the paper in disgust, and was about to toss it in the waste bin he was near, when he saw the picture on the back of it.

It was him, hair slicked back, wearing that god-awful green-striped suit he had owned until he realized just how much of a dork he looked wearing it. Fortunately, the picture was grayscale, so the true horror was muted somewhat.

"Need to vote, but don't care who you pick?" The main catch phrase, just grazing his portrait's hair, said. Keiichi then looked at the "explodies" surrounding him, and blinked. Half of them made no sense, while the other half made even less sense.

"Morisato believes in the puppies. Believe in them too." One 'explody' on the right read.

"A different man for a not-so-different slogan." Said an opposing one.

Great. His campaign manager seems to either be a fan of the Dada movement, or heavily channeling Dali. He expected both to be true. He looked at the others, trying to decipher their meanings.

"I can has vote?" That wasn't even proper _English_, nevermind what it would look like to someone who only spoke Japanese. But the final one took the cake.

"Now playing at a theatre near you." This was half English, half Japanese, but in a funky, Sanskrit-like font.

He groaned, crumpled the paper, and shoved it as deep as he could get it into the waste receptacle.

--

"Come on out, Sora," Belldandy said, tapping at the outside large cardboard carton in the middle of the room, "it really isn't _that_ bad."

"I really don't see your face in the paper," Sora sniffled, wrapping her arms around her legs, trying to get herself into a smaller ball in the blackness of the box. She put her eyes against her knees, sobbing silently. How had they gotten a picture of her in mid swing? Had she unconsciously posed for the photo? Did she really, secretly like dishing out torture like that on another human being?

"I'm coming in," Belldandy's voice carried through the cardboard just as a small sliver of light penetrated the encompassing darkness.

"No!" Sora whined, pulling the flaps closed as best as she could, "Leave me alone! Please."

Silence answered, but even through it, she could feel Belldandy's disappointment and sadness radiating outside for a moment before fading away.

Sora felt mortified. She felt it more so than when she had been mistakenly outed to the world as a lesbian.

And not just _any_ lesbian – the first lesbian in Japan to ever get married… to another woman!

She was getting incoherent again, so she just took a deep breath, held it for ten seconds and exhaled it in a long, drawn out breath.

There. All better. She could feel some of her composure return. It probably wasn't enough to make her leave her fortress, but it did keep her from breaking down into complete hysterics. She felt completely ashamed that she had resorted to violence on such a scale.

The fact that the paper was somewhat right made the sting hurt a lot more didn't help, either. Aoshima had, in his own, twisted way, chosen Belldandy over her, and, no matter how much she thought it had been pushed aside, the wound still stung each time the salt was rubbed into it.

Suddenly, there was a scratching sound on the cardboard.

"Bell?" Sora asked weakly.

Nobody answered, yet the soft scratching noise continued.

"Could you please leave me alone?" She tried. Still nothing but the scratching.

She decided to just be quiet, hoping the sound would go away on its own. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the sound stopped as suddenly as it had come.

And now, she had to pee.

She didn't want to leave the box, but if she didn't she'd be even more embarrassed. After a few moments of uncomfortable indecision, she gave up and went to the bathroom.

After washing her hands, she looked around to see that Bell was nowhere to be found. Urd was also away, both probably looking at the anomaly they had been poking around at for the past few days, so she could easily go back into hiding in the cardboard box.

Sora opened the partition's door and gasped. The box had been painted by someone. It had a house in a comic, childish style on each side, and the words "Sora House" in soft, sky blue colors.

"I know you're here, Ed!" Sora cried out to the empty house "Get out here now!"

Nobody answered. He must have done it while she had been wallowing in self-pity, which would explain the scratching sound she had heard earlier. Upon closer inspection, she could see finger and nail; marks. He musn't have had brushes, so he used his hands instead.

It seemed like a nice, sweet gesture to try to get her to cheer up, but knowing ErdGeist, it could be anything. Her paranoia made her inspect the inside of the box cautiously before getting back in.

She curled up in the darkness again, still wondering why she had to keep going through these embarrassing things. Without realizing it, she drifted off to sleep, still feeling as if the universe was having a laugh at her misfortune.

--

"So, I'll see you tomorrow night at seven," Sayoko said into her cell, "be sure to have your best on hand." She closed her cell and smiled. Not even fifteen minutes ago, the boy came by and graciously accepted her date. Keiichi Morisato apologized profusely to her for his delayed response yet again, which amazed her. Usually people didn't have the courtesy and, while just a tiny bit annoying, it actually made her day that he seemed to look at the little details_ and_ the larger picture.

Sayoko crossed her legs and arms, and relaxed in her chair near the window of the Campus center, trying to put together exactly what kind of person she was dealing with in Morisato. It was a trait her family had instilled in her almost at birth, to allow them to continue to make profits, even in this poor economy.

Was he down to earth? Was he secretly a playboy? Maybe he was just your average Joe, but something about him was oddly different. She couldn't put her finger on it in the least.

Yet, there was that thing with Aoshima. She had even read about it in Nekomi Tech's questionable excuse of a newspaper after he had blabbed the whole thing to them in order to make Keiichi seem a monster.

That didn't happen: The boy became a practical hero to the school almost overnight. And now…

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at the paper opened to the back advertisement in said questionable paper. The dark-haired boy's photo looked bored, as if he really didn't want to be posing for the picture. Something was familiar about that image, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She shook her head, sighed, and decided to read the paper now that it had her attention.

She flipped the paper over to the first page, and almost dropped it; her cousin was on the front yet again, but this time, he was being beaten by a petite woman with the fiercest look she had ever seen in her life. Hiding her delight at her cousin's additional misfortune, she began to read.

--

Sora was awoken by a soft hand gently shaking her shoulder.

"Wake up," Belldandy's gentle voice settled in her mind like a whisper, "it's time for supper."

"Not now, mom," She murmured, still in that in-between place that isn't quite sleep, but isn't quite awake, either. She yawned, and closed her eyes again.

"You haven't eaten all day," the gently-prodding hand said again, but the fuzzy feeling in Sora's brain made her feel as if the voice was the one lulling her to sleep.

"Just a few more minutes, Mom," She whined.

"WAKE UP!" A different, harsher voice bellowed, making her start awake. Since she had fallen asleep in a sitting position, and both her butt and her feet felt as if they themselves were still slumbering, Sora tumbled backwards, bumping her head on the back of the cardboard box.

"Ow!" She said, more out of surprise than from it actually hurting, but that's when the pins-and-needles feeling started to permeate her limbs and butt.

"Ow!" She repeated, fighting to control her hand and make it rub her backside.

"Neesan," Bell's voice said, as Sora's eyes focused to see the disapproval on the Goddess's face, "That wasn't a very nice thing to do."

"Yeah," Urd shot back, "but she wasn't very nice about hiding herself away, when you were trying to help her."

Bell looked like she was going to say something to her sister, but Sora forestalled her.

"It's okay, Bell," Sora said, rubbing her eyes, "I guess I kinda did deserve that for being a whiny little brat."

"But they-" the Goddess began before Sora cut her off again.

"Really. " She sighed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes "It's fine. I'm sorry I acted that way."

"You mean _over_ reacted, don't you?" Urd asked.

_"Neesan!" _Bell said, shocked.

"Whatever," Urd said, her hand coming through the opening of the cardboard box, "Hope your butt gets better."

Surprisingly, Bell didn't say anything. She merely sighed, closed her eyes, and shook her head slowly.

"Anyway," Sora said, blushing a little bit, "Think maybe you could help me up? It seems my legs won't move without some assistance."

Belldandy turned to her, offering a hand and a slight smile. She knew Bell more than likely had never had this sort of thing happen to her, but it was nice to know that the other woman's empathy was genuine. Sora took her hand and stood up on shaky legs. The pins-and-needles feeling increased as blood started to bring oxygen back to her legs, and she winced.

"Would you like me to heal you?" the Goddess asked, concern on her face.

"Nah," Sora replied, shaking a leg feebly, "the feeling's coming back, even as we spesk."

Belldandy sighed in relief, carefully letting go of Sora's hand. Oddly, the absence of that reassuring hand made her frown slightly. The Goddess hadn't seen it, though; her chestnut hair on the back of her head was all Sora could see.

"I made your favorite," Bell said, pulling out the chair for Sora. She smiled reassuringly at the Goddess in thanks, and sat down at the table to eat.

--

Urd was annoyed. Extremely annoyed. There had been absolutely _no_ progress in her sister's relationship in the _least_. As a matter of fact: Urd believed that all the effort she had been exerting on their behalf _wasn't even appreciated_.

She was so annoyed, that she realized she was emphasizing the words in her head, and couldn't care less about it! What was a sister to do, to make her sister's relationship work?

It wasn't that she had expected this scenario, but hey – whatever wish is granted is granted, and there are no "take-backs" to them. That was what made them such precious jewels to these mortals: the fact that you only got the one and _only _the one, and only one out of a bajillion people ever got the chance to be granted one.

Not that it was _always_ fair, but the majority of the time, everything worked to the wisher's true desires, and all was right in the world, etc. etc.

But _this_ time…

Urd shook herself. Things worked like this for a reason. They _always_ did. They might not be the _best_ reason, but still, even Goddesses and Gods couldn't see the whole of it like the Almighty could.

So, instead of dwelling on it, she was going to get some sake', get drunk, and pass out at either her shed or the local park.

But first, she had work to do: The anomaly was bugging her something fierce, like listening to a woo-girl watching NASCAR. She needed to find out exactly where the source originated from. If it were coming from Hel, they were in a lot of trouble. Rifts like that could mean the start of Ragnarok or _worse_, and she didn't even want to think about what could be worse than dealing with her mother and her flunkies.

Where was the source coming from? She and Belldandy had been over the area several times, and they kept just running into walls, both physical and metaphorical. There were three buildings and part of the sewer they had narrowed the search down to, but all of the buildings were privately-owned, and no amount of anything was going to get Urd into the sewers. She had seen too many anime, manga and the like where things could go pear-shaped really quickly.

And she also didn't want to think of the stink either. Some things are much better when they were simply left alone.

Urd grimaced and put on her glasses again, trying different frequencies for best effect. She had gone from most of the negative spectrum, which actually magnified particles in the air to show movement, to well within the infraviolet range, hoping to see if there were any residual magics that could be traced. She really didn't want to do this yet again, but they had to be certain there was absolutely nothing else they had missed in a skipped band.

She adjusted the frequency one more notch, and yet again stood looking at the same damned thing she had been looking at for the past fifteen minutes. Resisting the urge to ditch and get the bottle of sake' much earlier than planned, she upped the setting yet again, hoping the time wouldn't drag by like Sleipnir racing after a drinking barrel of beer.

Now _that_ had been a good day…

--

Keiichi rubbed stiff shoulders as he sat on the last train to Nekomi. The work wasn't too difficult, but when there was a lot of it, you started to feel it.

The place he had been working needed regular maintenance and checkup to prevent anything from happening to the crews, and several of the sets needed to be disassembled and reassembled onto different frames to give them the look of a different location. He had also had to repair some of the forklifts and dollies that had broken due to wear or too much weight.

It was those small things that had made his shoulder hurt; not only were they put together with lots of nuts and bolts, they were all small, in obscure, hard-to-get places, and some of them couldn't be tilted or put on their side without worrying about the emergency mercury breaker switches. Fortunately, he had learned a lot from the job and he liked how clever his boss had been lifting a forklift with another forklift to get at the damaged axle.

And now, all he had to do was get home, study, take a quick shower, and go to bed. Tomorrow he could finish up where he left off with his homework. This would put him ahead of the class's schedule by two days with his homework, so he could focus on his German essay.

He looked at his clock. Fifteen minutes past Midnight, so he should be back in Nekomi by 12:30 at the latest. He thought about getting something to eat from the dorm, but decided to splurge a little, and get something from the depot instead. He was debating what to get when, as soon as they crossed the border into Nekomi, the power to the train went out.

--

Sora had finally emerged from her hiding spot, still feeling as if she had been through the transmission of the old, decrepit three-wheeler rusting next to the clubhouse. Her eyes felt itchy and her arms and legs still felt rubbery from being in the same place. Bell was asleep in their futon, looking as if there were no worries in the world. The lights were mostly off, except the small table lamp they kept on to get to the bathroom during the night.

Of course, for her, there weren't: Goddesses seemed to be exempt from the same travails that mortals had to go through. She felt a little envious that Bell didn't have to worry abou tall the little headaches she had to each day, or, if she did, the solution literally would "magic" itself away.

Sora suppressed a sigh, opting to make her way to the kitchen and get herself some milk. Upon thinking that, her traitorous stomach growled loudly, making her blush. She looked anxiously at the sleeping figure and relaxed when the Goddess just turned away from her.

She went to the fridge and opened it. Belldandy had thought ahead, and made her some sandwiches with little pieces of carrot and cucumber cut into half-moons and flowers. Smiling, Sora took out the sandwiches, unwrapped their cellophane shrouds, put the plate on the table, and dug in.

As she finished one salmon sandwich and looked at the time. It was now ten to Midnight, and she decided that she should take what remained of Saturday and get further ahead in her homework. She rifled through her book bag, digging out her composition book, her notebook and the books for her classes. She opened her notebook and pulled the pencil from its binding before resting it on the kitchen table.

She finished opening her books to their appropriate places listed in her composition book and turned on the light.

Almost instantly, it turned off.

"That's odd," Sora thought to herself. It was a fluorescent bulb, so it couldn't have burnt out so quickly without the usual telltale dying flicker. She blinked, realizing that the bathroom light was also out, so she carefully edged over to the window to look outside.

The whole of Nekomi was without lights; she could see the faint glow of the lights from Tokyo reflecting off the light cloud cover.

So, with no lights, and the whole day wasted, Sora gave up, put on her pajamas, and curled up next to Belldandy in an attempt to get some sleep.

--

Guests of Honor, blah, blah, blah. Father's associate, Mother's friend from croquet.

It all annoyed Sayoko to no end. Here she was, stranded in this quagmire of etiquette and propriety, pomp and property that she just sometimes wished she could just get away from.

But she couldn't. She was trapped here, having to put on a fake smile as plastic as everyone elses. She sometimes wondered if she shouldn't look into getting some kind of automaton with her features and a recording that just said the general appellations and responses people looked for. She could have it say "a pleasure to meet you," or "the pleasure's all mine," as well as a hundred myriad variations in her most sincere voice.

Sayoko smiled. Not because she thought it was funny, but because her Father's cheif accountant was making his way over to her. He was an elderly man, and rather pleasant, so she didn't have to fake it.

"Kenshiro," Sayoko said, warmly hugging the old man before kissing him on each cheek. He returned the gesture and smiled at her widely, "Nice to see you."

"As well you," He grinned, "The stock option you wanted me to buy into has doubled quicker than we projected."

"Ah-ha," Sayoko said, playfully shaking her finger at him, "No business during business!"

Kenshiro laughed, "That wasn't business - that was me telling you that we stuck it to that old, dried up fart over there!" He nodded his head toward her father, and she laughed with him. He wasn't talking about her father, of course: He had been talking about His codgey old Vice President of Finance, who was all but scraping at the senior Mishima's every comment.

"Are you really sure you want to go into electronics instead of finance?" He continued, giving Sayoko a questioning look. For all she had explained it to her father, mother and even Kenshiro, the three never seemed to grasp why she wanted to follow the course she had. Couldn't they see that a minor in business was just as good, when you were brought up under one of the top corporations in the nation? Sometimes her parents' train of thought just mystified her.

She chatted a few minutes with the jovial accountant, pleasantly waving goodbye to him as she started her schmoozing circuit. Sayoko glanced at the grandfather clock in the hall, noting that it was almost midnight, so her thought was to make her farewells and then a hasty retreat home. She had been in these heels all day, and they were starting to make her feet ache.

Several men were around her cousin, and she frowned. The idiot didn't know when to shut up, and she could tell that about half of them were sporting more of a grimace than a smile, while the others, thuggish-looking, arrogant princes one and all, mirrored his laugh. He must have been talking about his last "conquest", twisting the truth to make it seem like he was not only doing the girl a favor, but had beaten up her good-for-nothing boyfriend. She was tempted to go over and put him in his place, but when he glanced her way, he swallowed visibly and made a hasty retreat.

It was a shame, really. Her family had already chewed him out for his ridiculous behavior, but Sayoko's hand itched to repeat what she had read that the mousy little girl had done to him, crotch shot and all. It was vulgar, true, but the more she thought about it, the more she wished she had slugged him just as hard with her purse, but loaded with something like a lead ball instead of the pointy corner of books that she had barely seen hinted at in the photo.

Sayoko sighed, letting her anger go. There was only so far something like this should be dealt with within the family, and it had reached that point. She needed to think of something else quickly, to prevent the smile from transforming once again to a scowl.

Suddenly, one of her grandmother's old business partners stepped into view, and her mouth automatically became a smile.

"Yes," she asked, not letting him introduce himself, "how may I help you?"

If the man was put off by the comment, he didn't show it. She had heard about the gentleman from her grandmother, and had a very strong idea of why he was there to talk to her.

"Your grandmother," He said, bowing slightly, "has told me a lot about you, Miss Mishima."

"And if I am not mistaken, Mister Nakamura," Sayoko said, purposefully reclining to reciprocate his gesture, "She has told me a lot about you, as well."

"She has?" He said, a bit dumbfounded. Sayoko nodded.

"Indeed," she answered, "And the answer is that I decline wholeheartedly."

The gentleman blinked, stunned that she had cut right to the point.

"I don't-" He said, trying to weasel-word his way to distaction, but Sayoko raised a hand to cut him off.

"Please," She said, sighing in annoyance, "Don't belittle my intelligence. Or yours. I am not interested in an arranged marriage, no matter how prestigious, affluent or whatever your family is." Several people nearby were looking over at her, talking in hushed tones. She all but ignored them to focus on the man.

"But you haven't even met him," Nakamura said, "He's a good boy, and-"

"I'm still not interested," Sayoko said flatly, "Good day, Mister Nakamura."

With that, she made her way towards the elevator, not fully paying attention to her father telling the man that he had been right about his little girl, but still feeling a bit warm inside from it anyway. She hated it when someone tried to set her up on dates or marriages. If she wanted a romance, she was going to find one in her own time, in her own way.

Still, it rankled that these old farts seemed to think that they had to go about it like a badly-made soap opera or drama. Still, it was satisfying using the same cheesy dialogue to give it back to them; she got to turn them down, and it made an impression on an otherwise boring night. If she was lucky, she'd be entertained with how big the gossip had grown from what she had actually said.

Smiling, she entered the elevator, and stabbed the button for the ground level. The door closed, and the car made its way down the shaft.

And came to a halt halfway between floors when the power suddenly cut out.

--

Urd had returned to the anomaly, sake' bottle in her hand as she glared at it. She toook a long pull from the bottle, trying to get her muddled mind to think about what it was that bothered her so much about the thing. Was it the way it didn't pulse? Was it the way that it fluctuated only when something touched it?

She reached out a hand to it, and ran the tips of her fingers gently across it. She couldn't see it now, but she did have its location practically memorized to the point she could almost "see" where it was in her mind's eye. Still: Her fingers tingled as they slid against it, the texture smooth like a reptile's skin and tingled with the raw energy of its magic.

It could have been the alcohol that was causing it, but she wasn't sure, and didn't really care. She had to work out this puzzle. She removed her fingers from it and sighed, opting to take another swig from her bottle.

Urd took another sip. She normally didn't mix drinking with work, but this was one of those times that she needed the inspiration she usually got from being plastered. She remembered how each time, her supervisors would just shake their heads, frown in disapproval, and congratulate her on finding the bug that had eluded all of Yggdrasil's supporting staff.

She squinted. The line she thought she could see for the anomaly was sharper, making a thin outline across the building it clung to. She put her fingers along the seam, and confirmed the sensations she had felt each time she touched the anomaly. On impulse, she tried to put her hand through the seam, hoping she could get it to change shape, or come away.

Nothing. The membrane was solid, as if it were permeating through the wall.

So, what if they took down the wall? Thankfully she wasn't drunk enough to go through with it, else it would have been difficult to explain to the cops or the landowner exactly why she was blowing parts out of the building. Frustrated, she skulked a few feet away, sat on her haunches, and tapped the neck of the booze bottle with her fingers.

There was something missing. She could feel it almost as much as she felt the warmth of the liquor permeate her body as she moved back over to the anomaly. She exhaled, watching the cloud of mist make its way through the barely-perceived boundary.

It allowed air in, so it wasn't completely solid. She tapped the thing with the bottle, but it made no sound.

Porous, tensile, somewhat flexible, invisible and completely defying anything she had ever seen in her life, and she had seen quite a bit in her lifetime. It was completely baffling her.

Frustrated, she kicked a can, causing it to spray some liquid at the barrier. The place where the liquid contacted sparked green before fading to a reddish color, where it slowly dimmed back to transparency.

Intrigued, Urd picked up the can gingerly, and splashed the remains of the soda can on it again. Same effect, but because there was more liquid this time, Urd believed she could hear the anomaly sizzling and popping.

She tried to splash some more, but sadly, the can was empty. She looked for another, but there seemed to be nothing close in any direction. She sighed, defeated.

Urd went back to her bottle of Sake and took a pull from it, almost spitting the liquor out in her epiphany. She had some liquid right here! Now she could get somewhere with this frustrating problem! With grin, she took a victory swig, and approached the anomaly. She leaned closer, tipped the bottle...

... And the world exploded in her face.


	14. Something Bugging Me

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks yet again go to Davner, not only for the book idea, but for his insights when I wasn't happy with the content and had to re-write multiple pages at a time. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter Fourteen

Something Bugging Me

Keiichi walked the unlit streets of Nekomi with care. He didn't believe that there were many hooligans, but it never hurt to be too cautious; he had seen the stories of what some people did when the lights went out during an earthquake and, he bet, that the unsuspecting would always be a rather tempting target.

As he walked, he idly thought about his exodus from the train. The attendants apologized profusely, but at least the emergency power had not only come on to prevent the vehicle from smashing into something, it had allowed access to the doors, preventing him from being trapped in there for the rest of the night. The seats might be marginally comfortable, but they were a far cry from anything anyone would want to sleep on.

Keiichi stifled a yawn, trying to get a better sense of where he was. Fortunately, a car crawled by cautiously, approaching the intersection near him, so he could see some familiar buildings in the passing lights. From his estimate, he thought he was near that unusual anomaly that Urd and Bell had been scoping out for the past several days. Since he was near it, he should go see if anyone was there. Who knows? Maybe with this blackout, the anomaly could be seen much more clearly. It was worth a try, at least.

Keiichi looked up, seeing the dark impressions of the buildings blotting out the starlight, giving him some reference to work on; he counted on the distinct outline of the buildings near the anomaly to point him towards it. Maybe the shapes and locations of the buildings were part of why it showed up there? He doubted it; things like that only happened in cheesy dramas or bad anime. Still, he was going to at least propose the idea to the Goddesses, but he was almost certain that they had already come up with that notion on their own.

As he approached, he heard a faint buzzing sound. He cautiously edged closer to the alley, seeing a very thin spill of light giving a slight bluish-green wash to the bricks on the building.

Suddenly, the light flickered like a dying bulb. Seconds later, the humming and the light ceased at the same time. Keiichi looked around the corner and blinked. There was something on the ground that was shown in a light that blinded him, but just as oddly, didn't illuminate anything around it. The light dimmed and he could make out a shadow in front of it.

It looked like a body.

Without thinking about it, Keiichi rushed forward to help the hapless person. When he got closer, he stopped short, shocked at what he saw.

The magical light had weakened to the point where only Urd's face could be seen. Her eyes were closed and her bangs were no longer in her eyes. As Keiichi gently reached an arm around her, lifting her to a sitting position, He heard a snore coming from her, and he smelled sake' permeating the air around her.

"Hey, Urd," Keiichi said, gently tapping the side of her face, "Wake up." He tried a few more taps, but gave in. What was he going to do? As he was debating, the lights came back as suddenly as they had gone out, causing him to blink. As they adjusted to the light, he looked down at the drunken Goddess…

And almost dropped her. Her hair was in a pink afro that bordered on the fluorescent shades, her mouth was open, and she was drooling.

Definitely not the best she had ever looked, in his opinion.

"Okay, Sleepyhead," he said, putting an arm under her shoulders, and one under her knees. He braced himself for the best leverage that he could in this sort of situation, and started to lift.

"Hey, there, cutie!" Urd said, almost causing Keiichi to fall on top of her. She didn't seem to care about her situation, as she reached arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks as Urd slipped her tongue into his mouth. His tongue and mouth tingled as they stayed lip-locked, and he felt the tingle spread to the spot right between his eyes, as if someone were tickling him with a very gentle electric jolt.

This happened so quickly that Keiichi hadn't really absorbed what was happening. Now that his mind had caught up, he realized that he was in a dark alley being frenched by one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

It had to be one of the best days of his life.

Keiichi pulled away from Urd, who passed out again once their lips parted. He could still taste a little bit of sake, and he licked his lips, trying to dispel some of it. He was more successful in picking up the Goddess this time; he hoisted her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry instead of trying to be more gentlemanly about it. As pleasant as it had been, he didn't want another kiss to distract him from coordinating through the now dimly-lit streets of downtown Nekomi. Being careful with where he was putting his hands, he made his way to Sora's place, hoping that Sora or Bell might still be up to let him in.

--

Sora woke, yawning sleepily. Her brain felt slightly muzzy as if she hadn't gotten much sleep, but it was bright in the room. Was it really morning?

She rubbed her eyes, opening them enough to barely see the smudge of Bell's sleeping form. If it was morning, Bell would already be up, singing to the trees in the back yard. Odd. Sora closed her eyes, stretched, yawned, and rolled onto her back. She opened her eyes…

… And screamed. There was something looming over her! Still screaming, she heard Belldandy stir next to her, wondering what the problem was, and she reached around for a weapon. Without thinking, she grabbed the pillow behind her and swung as hard as she could.

Nothing. The figure didn't even move! Whatever the figure was, it was going to kill her and make her into a stew. The part of her mind that was still waking up noted that she was being hysterical, so it tried to calm her down to assess the situation; it had noticed that the towering figure had not moved at all since she woke up and was slowly forcing its way into the illogical side of her.

The world was blurry, so she had no idea what to do. Was it just playing with its food before devouring it? Maybe it was one of those demons that Belldandy had told her about?

Belldandy. Sora focused as best as she could at the Goddess, who was now sitting up in the futon, looking at Sora oddly. Why wasn't the Goddess afraid of the thing? Shouldn't she be blasting it into a hundred bajillion little pieces by now?

"Killit!" Sora said, gasping from her hysterics, "Kill it with fire! Before it eats us or… Or worse!"

"Why?" Bell asked, sounding perplexed.

Sora paused a moment, dumbstruck. Why? The monster that was not moving an inch was going to eat their faces off!

Then it hit her: The thing really hadn't moved at all. Her brain raced, finally putting the pieces together. Big, looming, still monstrosity. Lights. All of it. Someone had shoved the stupid Cylon thing next to her sleeping form, bent it to look like it was looming, and…

"ED!" Sora Bellowed, causing the neighbors above her to thump angrily, "Get your miserable butt out here _RIGHT NOW!_" Belldandy came over, handing Sora her glasses. The bemused face that came into focus told Sora that even the Goddess had found the scene funny.

"Ed!" She repeated, and the spirit materialized behind her.

"You called," Erdgeist whispered in her ear, causing her to jump. It was almost as if he were trying to take as many years off her life as he possibly could. She was still surprised he hadn't caused her hair to start graying yet.

She caught her breath and stuck her tongue out at the spirit, who smiled in satisfaction.

"Get that monstrosity out of here!" She yelled, unable to keep the quaver from her voice. Erdgeist merely bowed, went over to the hell-spawned statue, and started hauling it to the door.

The spirit opened the door, and a white blur zipped past Sora and Belldandy, hitting the thing's torso in an explosion of whitish soap bubbles.

"What the-" Sora began, but was cut off by the robotic statue moving: It released itself from Erdgeist's grip, dropped to the floor and pranced post-haste out the door with a racket that caused the neighbors upstairs and besides her to thump angrily.

"What in Heaven's name was that?" Sora said. Before she could get a reply from the Goddess that looked just as perplexed as she was, a big, dark silhouette appeared in the door.

It looked roughly the shape of the Cylon. How it moved so quietly unnerved Sora for some reason.

Suddenly, the red light began to glow, growing in intensity until it was like a beacon of death.

"Oh, crap," Sora whispered. "It's going to kill us."

"What are-" Belldandy said, but Sora hissed her to silence.

"It's the light," Sora whispered, trying to keep her hands from shaking, "The evil red light means it's going to kill us and wear our skins as lingerie."

"I think you're over-thinking it," Bell whispered back, "See? It is just standing there."

"Yeah," She replied, trying not to move, "because it is like those predators that only go after you if it moves. See? The light's moving like a motion sensor, and it'll kill us all if we even flinch."

Belldandy was staring at her in amazement, but she knew: She hated the thing ever since it came into their apartment; it looked as if death incarnate had been given a menacing robotic form.

Before she could think on it any further, the thing's eye started to oscillate from side to side, sizing up the whole room and its contents. Suddenly, the thing's arm pointed at her, and the gun disappeared behind its long, dagger-like fingers before it charged into the room.

"RUN!" Sora screamed, taking hold of Bell's hand somehow managing to slip past the mechanical menace into the darkness of the back yard.

--

Sayoko tapped her fingers impatiently as she awaited rescue from the metal box she was trapped in. Granted, it was lined in wood and velvet, but that didn't change what it was. She didn't like elevators that much to begin with, because they moved at a snail's pace at best, but now that she was stuck in one in the middle of a blackout, the elevator became cramped.

She flipped open her phone, twisting the screen to "widescreen mode" and tuned it to the local station. To her disgust, they weren't broadcasting. Did anyone ever hear of "backup generators"? Her mansion had at least three, and she was sure her father's main building had one every eighth floor. Was it too much for them to put one in for emergency lighting? She flipped the phone to a national station to at least have something to do while she waited.

After several minutes, the power came back on, startling her. She quickly punched the next floor, and the elevator came to a slow halt, opening its doors. She hurried out as calmly as she could, not taking any chances that it might be just a temporary return of power.

She made her way to the stairs, careful to keep her cell phone handy; the device not only had a nice screen, but it could, if set to a light image, double as enough of a flashlight to keep her from having to fumble her way down each step in her high heels.

She made her way towards the main lobby, still cursing her choice of footwear: The shoes were wearing her patience away and she just wanted to go home, take a bath, and curl up under her covers and sleep until noon.

Sayoko had made it about halfway down the stairway when she finally got sick of her shoes. Aching and frustrated, she sat on a step, removed the shoes, and was tempted to just dump them over the side and possibly pick up their remains at the bottom.

She didn't do it, of course; the shoes were part of the outfit and were perfectly fine for social outings. It wasn't the shoes' fault that she had to walk down almost twenty flights of stairs, or that the event she had been at lasted much longer than she had originally anticipated. Maybe next time, she should use a larger bag, and hide some house slippers in it? While the thought had some merit, it didn't seem to be practical.

Sayoko sighed, continuing her journey downward. She thought about tomorrow night, and still debated with herself as to where she would take Mister Morisato. For all she knew, he would want something simple, like a burger, fries and shake to make him happy. She signed again, this time angry with herself. She didn't know the man, and didn't want to make any assumptions based on which dorm he lived in or who he hung around with.

Maybe his tastes were refined, even though he looked like he had the fashion sense of James Dean. Maybe it was how everyone that worked with vehicles dressed? She doubted it, as she remembered that her family's mechanics wore uniforms and coveralls that at least made them look professional, even when they got coated in dirt, oil and other mechanical fluids.

Though, the article on him running for President was quite humorous, she knew from experience that the paper could not be trusted; the only thing that she could believe was that he was a member of the Auto Club, as she had seen him leaving from there numerous times. It didn't help the paper's reputation that they didn't have any quotes from him, either. Maybe if they bothered to do real journalism, people would take them seriously.

She brought her thoughts back to the present. Sayoko put her hateful shoes back on, opened the door and went over to the valet's podium. She tossed her number to the kid behind the table and he called his colleague on the radio. Within minutes, her car was here, and she took off without another word. Why should she bother to talk to them, when they were doing their job? Besides, they would get a good enough tip from home when the bill was paid in the morning.

She was almost to the road leading to her apartment, when she saw the oddest thing: A person, presumably a woman wearing a pink Afro was being carried over a short man's shoulder. The afro looked to be a wig, as silvery-white hair hanging out of the bottom was now flopped over part of the wig, making it look like the wig had a skunk's stripe. Sayoko could tell the woman was much taller than the man; her feet almost made it to the man's shins.

Sayoko was tempted to stop and take a picture, simply because it was such an odd thing to see, but refrained from it, simply because she couldn't get a good shot in the light. As she crawled by, she tried to see the man's face, but the woman's ample hips obscured whatever the dim light hadn't. Resigned that her curiosity wasn't going to be satiated tonight, she gave up and made her way to her apartment, thinking of how nice a long, soaking bath would feel on her aching feet.

--

Keiichi felt tired. Urd might be supermodel thin, but the Goddess was tall and well-built with all the right amounts of muscle and fat in all the right places. He tried not to think of that too much, but with her backside mere inches from his face, and her wearing a miniskirt to boot, he found his mind slowly going back to it. He tried to distract himself, but something like his reflection in a window, or the way the shadows looked as he passed a light pole kept drawing his mind back to it.

Well, that and the kiss. Did she even know who it was she was kissing? Most likely not, if she had called him cutie; it meant the alcohol had seriously warped what she was seeing. Still, as much as he tried to discount it, it really had felt like a nice way to have a first kiss by a real woman.

He thought of it like that, because no matter how cute one might be, a little sister kissing you on the lips when you are kids, just because she saw it on a television show did _not_ count. It did nothing for his self esteem when a week later, Megumi had a boyfriend while he was still squirming uncomfortably anytime he had to sit next to Sakura Tomino from his class at lunch. If anything, the kiss made him even _more_ self conscious than he usually had been. Keiichi was still surprised that the girl had sat next to him even after all of his uncomfortable blushing.

He tried not to think about it as he made his way towards Sora's place, but it kept coming back to him. He remembered the first girl he liked in High school. She was small, cute, and extremely easygoing and friendly. They had hung out whenever their schedules permitted, and she always had a smile for him and yet somehow, he never went past being friends with her.

And he didn't want to think about the disaster with Sayoko; she hadn't even really given him the time of day before he went and asked her to the museum and now…

Now, he really didn't know what he should do. The closer the date got, the more anxious he felt about it: Maybe it'd be best if he just politely pretend to be sick, and just let her out of any obligation she felt? It didn't help that he was all but positive she was going to bring him to some upper-class place where he'd have to dress in a suit or a tuxedo, either – for some reason every fitted suit looked like he was a kid trying on his father's clothing.

Keiichi sighed, disgusted with himself. Why did he always seem to be around woman that seemed to have zero interest in him? It would be nice to have had at least some experience with dating, and romance and all the good and bad that went with it.

Even now, he felt envious of Sora's predicament; if he had been in the same situation…

He sighed again. He knows exactly what would have happened in a situation like that: He would have asked for his Beemer to be repaired to practically "factory new" or he would have wasted it on something completely useless. He never would have used it to find true love or a girlfriend or even a _wife!_ Heaven knows that he didn't deserve a wish in the first place, so why think about the "coulds" or "woulds" for things that were just "nots"?

His thoughts came back to his current situation, and realized he was almost to Sora's place. The Goddess was now somehow snoring in her awkward position on his shoulder.

"There's too many of them," Urd murmured enough so Keiichi could hear, "They're coming right for us!"

What's coming for them? Who was "them" anyway? Whomever it was, it sounded bad that they were on their apparent way towards Urd.

"Soft," Urd muttered, shifting in Keiichi's arms enough that he had to hold her tighter or risk her slipping off his shoulder to the sidewalk, "So many legs.. and the hopping! Evil ears! Evil!"

Urd was now thrashing to the point Keiichi had to stop. The goddess flayed her arms around wildly, almost as if she were swatting away a swarm of flies. What on Earth was going on? Had she drunk so much alcohol that she was having delusions in her sleep? Could it be a sign of alcohol poisoning? He thought it best to bring her to Belldandy as quickly as possible.

"Their eyes," Urd whined, finally stopping her squirming enough for Keiichi to resume walking, "Their horrible, beady eyes! There's no end to them!"

"It's okay," Keiichi said as reassuringly as he could, "We'll be home any minute now."

Just as suddenly as it had started, Urd resumed her snoring.

--

Sora looked into her apartment with dismay. She and Bell were both behind Urd's appropriated shed, looking at the statue-come-to-life that was looking around her apartment.

For some reason, it looked confused.

Maybe she should call the cops? But how would you explain something so absurd to them? They would most likely think that it was some prank from her club-mates again – she shuddered at the one time the cops had come to the club house, eyed everyone inside with distrust, and took Tamiya and Otaki down to the station for questioning.

Because of that, the police knew what she looked like, and if those guys that came to inquire about the stolen aluminum window frames were to come to her apartment…

But what else could she do? She was freezing, her body was covered in goosebumps and, if someone came by and saw her and bell in their sleepwear, she was sure that she'd die from embarrassment!

"What should we do, Bell?" She asked the goddess standing next to her. She felt her face flush, as she realized that the Goddess not only seemed unaffected by the cold, but wasn't covering herself modestly. Granted it was just herself and Bell here, but still…

"We should go talk to it," Bell said simply, taking a step towards the door.

"No!" Sora hissed, grabbing Belldandy's hand, "The thing'll probably barbecue you the moment it saw you!"

"Then why didn't it do so when it first moved?" the Goddess asked, confused, "Wouldn't the element of surprise have been in its favor?"

"That's because we got the jump on it," Sora replied, "and escaped before it got its bearings!"

"So what do we do, then?" Bell asked her. She thought about it for a moment.

"Couldn't you blast it with your power?" Sora suggested. Bell looked aghast.

"Why would I do that?" The Goddess asked.

"It's a metallic, heartless minion of death!" She replied, "Its soulless body lives just to destroy things!"

"Well, then," Belldandy said slowly, "Why isn't it wrecking the apartment?"

"How would I know?" Sora complained, "I'm not a mindless metallic minion of death!"

"Maybe I should go talk to it," Belldandy said thoughtfully.

"Didn't we just shoot that idea down?"

Before Belldandy could reply to that, they saw Keiichi round the corner carrying Urd over his shoulder. The elder Goddess looked like she had been partying too hard; her hair was sticking out from under the worst wig Sora had ever seen. In contrast, Keiichi was dressed in work coveralls and matching baseball cap. He walked towards the apartment, stopping momentarily to stare at the door.

"Kei-" Sora began, but was too late in her warning; Keiichi went through the door and closed it behind him. Sora and Bell rushed up to their apartment, fearing the sounds of death and carnage that should be coming out of it any time now.

But there was silence. Did the thing snap poor Keiichi's neck? Sora swallowed hard, and hesitatingly moved to the door. She was about to open it, when Keiichi opened it.

"AAAH!" Sora shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"AAAH!" Keiichi answered, just as startled as she was. The neighbors started thumping on the ceiling and walls again in their anger, but Sora didn't care.

"You're alive!" Sora said, wrapping her arms around the still-recovering boy.

"Barely after that!" He replied. Sora felt herself gently pushed away, and she looked at him, smiling that he was safe.

Then she remembered that she was barely wearing anything, and it was cold outside.

"Don't look!" She said, accidentally smacking him as she thrust her hand over his eyes.

"Ow!" He said, rubbing his head, but at least he wasn't looking at her now, "What was that for?"

"We're not decent!" Sora said, still waving her hands in front of his face, " I didn't hit you _that_ hard, and it was an accident!"

With a patient look on his face, Keiichi kept his eyes closed, still rubbing his face where Sora had smacked him. Sora sighed and retreated into the house to get a robe for herself and Belldandy.

And ran right into the rogue robot.

"AAH!" Sora cried, muffling it with her hands. Her eyes widened as she realized the thing was staring right at her, its eye unmoving.

Sora closed her eyes, not bothering to watch her killer finish her off. Oh well, at least it had been a good life…

"Mommy!" The robot said in its deep near-monotone.

It was at this point that Sora fainted.

--

Keiichi was nonplussed; one minute, he was dragging a passed out woman into the apartment, and then not to long after that, he had to bring another woman into the apartment. It didn't help that he had to make his way around a Cylon model that looked lifted from one of the sets as it turned to stare at him with that single eye.

He put Sora next to Urd on the futon and put a blanket over the two. The house was still cold and, as warm as his work uniform was, he was starting to feel the chill a bit. Bell offered him to make some tea, and he accepted wholeheartedly. He sat at the table, rubbing his hands together to work some warmth into them.

Keiichi purposely tried to keep his eyes averted as much as possible, but it was difficult when the woman at the stove wore a pullover, sleeveless nightgown that seemed more fitting for the summer than the winter. He focused on the statue that was now staring at the unconscious Sora. The poor thing seemed to be at a loss, and he could swear that he heard sobbing coming from over near its general direction.

There was a small tap of ceramic on the tabletop next to him. He turned to say thanks...

And almost swallowed his tongue. Bell's breasts were right in line with his eyes.

"Thanks," Keiichi said weakly. It really had been cold out there, he noted. He turned away, feeling his face flush.

"You're quite welcome," Belldandy said. From the sound of it, he would bet that she was smiling at him warmly.

"So," Keiichi asked, still averting his eyes from the Goddess, "what's with the tin man over there?"

"It seems," Belldandy said in a matter-of-fact way, "that it had been brought to life."

"I can see that," Keiichi sighed, rolling his eyes, "but what I meant was why is it fixated on Sora?"

There was a pause. After what seemed endless minutes of silence, Belldandy answered.

"I am not sure what happened," She said, "One minute, the thing was lifeless, and the next, it was running out of the house. When it came back in, it looked right at Sora. It might have been a case of 'imprinting.'"

"I'm not sure I follow," Keiichi said. He hazarded a look over at Bell, who thankfully had taken a seat and rested her chin on both hands as she looked from him to the robot. At least he wasn't distracted anymore.

"Think of baby birds," Bell replied, "when they see something for the first time, it becomes their mother."

Such a simple explanation, and yet, he understood. He nodded.

"Yeah," He said thoughtfully, "that does make sense."

"So," Belldandy said after another pause, "what do you think we should name him?"

Keiichi nearly spit out his tea. He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from making a mess of things.

"H-Him?" He finally said after recovering enough to swallow his tea.

"Yes," Bell replied, "He's going to need a name if he's going to stay here."

He didn't know what to say to that at first; he was all but certain that the robot would be shipped off to somewhere far away from Sora at the first opportunity. The thought kind of made him feel sorry for the poor thing, all things considered.

"Sora didn't like it when you first got it," Keiichi said, "so how do you know she'll keep it around?"

Belldandy didn't say anything: Instead, she just smiled to herself and started humming as she did a little light cleaning. It was odd, but her hum seemed to have a resonance to it that he had never heard before.

Chalking it up to being tired, he shook his head, took another sip of tea, and started to stare into his cup.

"Did you think of a name yet?" Belldandy asked, breaking him out of his reverie. He had honestly forgotten about the conversation, which made him blush. What was he going to say? Should he just say "Tama" like a little kid? Maybe "Spot?"

Should he give it a silly name like R2D2? What about Cy? Neither thing really sang out to him, so they wouldn't work. What about Mark, since it was the Mark II body type? He racked his brain for a few more seconds, but came up with nothing. In a panic, he came up with something totally out of the blue.

"Thirteen," he blurted out.

"Thirteen?" Belldandy blinked, "Like _jyuusan_?"

"No," Keiichi replied, "It needs to be in English. There were twelve Cylon models, so this would be the thirteenth."

Bell nodded in understanding.

"Is there any reason you asked me to name it?" He asked, curious.

"Well," she answered, "when you first saw it, you knew what it was."

"That's it?" He said, staring at her in surprise.

"Yes," She even blushed a bit as she continued, "If someone understands something, they are better to name it than someone that's never seen that thing before."

It made sense. He mulled it over for a few minutes more, but what the Goddess had said was spot on: He could see Sora naming the thing "Tama," and, as funny as that might be, it really didn't fit something so ominous-looking.

"I think I shall go ask him if he likes his new name," Belldandy said, putting the washcloth on the counter. Keiichi just looked at the robot, still trying to focus on anything but how the Goddess was dressed. It had been easier to do when they were talking, but now the uncomfortable feeling was back, making him feel anxious. Was he going to be his father's son completely, unable to talk to any females but his mother and sister? He hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Diverting his thoughts, he looked at the sleeping forms of Sora and Urd. Why had the Goddess kissed him? Was it another one of her jokes?

And worst of all: Why did Sayoko's image keep getting put in Urd's place in his mind? It frustrated him to no end.

"I'm heading home," He said, staring into his cup of tea, "I feel beat after everything that's happened tonight."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Belldandy asked, a look of concern on her face, "It wouldn't be too much for you to stay the night."

"I'll be fine," He replied, feigning a yawn, "What I really want right now, is just to curl up and sleep until noon."

"Well then," Belldandy said, "Have a good night, Keiichi."

"Night, Bell," He answered, getting up to leave, "I'll be sure to stop in tomorrow to find out what's up." He closed the door behind him, not looking to see if Belldandy waved to him or not – he'd rather not have the last image of the night be her in her sleepwear.

--

Keiichi woke from a nice dream about Sayoko, feeling stiff and sore all over. His lower back ached, and his mouth felt and tasted like what he imagined to be old paste, unlike the hinted taste of strawberry lipstick that lingered in his mind from Sayoko kissing him in his dream. His sleep hadn't been as restful as he had hoped; several times during the night, Hoshi had awakened him with yells of frustration or with the noise of him slamming his palm onto his space bar – a habit the kid seemed do whenever he was annoyed with someone or something. Even now, the maniac was typing away furiously on his laptop's keyboard, ranting out loud to his computer.

"What the hell does 'Thank you' mean?" The boy said, holding his laptop's display in both hands, "I gave him a scathing review of how he was completely and totally not getting Roslin's character right, and all he said was 'Thank you' for a reply?"

Keiichi half-heard the ranting: At least Hoshi wasn't screaming and running around the small room this time.

"I think I'll give him a piece of my mind!" The boy said, thrusting his fist in the air, "I'll make him sweat in his pathetic little boots!"

_Good luck with it,_ Keiichi thought, _I hope you'll at least have the courtesy to do it quietly._

He curled up in his blankets again, trying to get comfortable, but between the increasing intensity of his aches and pains and Hoshi's furious typing and occasional banging on his keyboard, Keiichi finally gave up.

"What time is it?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

There was no answer; Hoshi was in full "Roberto Mode" and ignoring him.

That was good. It meant Keiichi didn't have to pick sides on something he knew less than little about.

As he stretched, he thought about the events last night. He could still see almost still images of both goddesses in his mind, and it made him uncomfortable. Could he get struck by lightning just by looking at them? It was bad enough he was going to feel completely uncomfortable in either's presence when he did return to Sora's place. Maybe he should just avoid them for a while? He decided the best way to deal with it would be to just go see them and get it out of his system.

It didn't hurt that he might get a nice look at Belldandy and Urd's as- No! He was going to be a gentleman! He wasn't going to give into his baser instincts and look! It was bad enough he was going to probably panic his way through his date with Sayoko – he didn't need to add in lecherous thoughts about two other women to the mix.

He sighed. It really wasn't helping that the two goddesses were just as beautiful as the debutante was, as far as he was concerned. Why couldn't things be nice and easy, where women were concerned? Giving up on this train of thought, he made his way to the bathroom to hopefully get rid of the horrid pasty taste in his mouth with a good brushing.

Keiichi ate a boring breakfast of some corn flakes and a banana, and made his way over to Sora's. After knocking on the door, he waited for someone to open the door. He heard a "fwoosh" behind him, and looked at the direction of Urd's shack.

What he saw wasn't encouraging: The smoke coming out of the windows was a pinkish color, while the stuff billowing out of the opened door was bluish-green. He raced over to see if he needed to call 119 for medical assistance, and possibly fire control.

"Are you okay?" Keiichi said, looking in the doorway. The smell of the smoke made his nose scrunch up, and he resisted the urge to gag. The stench reminded him of the time his sister was learning to cook, and burnt a stick of butter and spices to his mother's favorite pan.

As he waved away the smoke, he saw Belldandy, Sora and Urd sitting in a circle, clutching their ears. Urd, still wearing that silly pink afro, was covered in soot, and both Bell and Sora looked as if they were going to be sick. Belldandy was the first to see him.

"Hello Keiichi," the Goddess said, unclasping her ears and absently waving away the smoke so she could see him better. Once she spoke, both Sora and Urd turned to focus their attention on him, and not the smoking vial on the floor that he could now see. Sora waved back, still looking ill, while Urd didn't want to look at him for some reason.

"I know I am probably going to regret this," Keiichi said, "but what happened?"

"We know what the anomaly was," Urd said, giving him a small sideways glance, before going back to avoiding his gaze.

"And?" He asked, hoping to prompt more information from the elder sister.

"And," Urd repeated before continuing, "I was trying to fix the problem."

"By blowing the place up?" He asked. Urd fidgeted under his gaze.

"Keiichi," Belldandy said, causing him to look at her, "Urd was trying to attract the bugs to us with a potion."

"Bugs?" Keiichi asked, still not following, "What bugs? And how is a failed potion going to fix the problem?"

"It didn't fail," Urd said, sounding indignant, "As a matter of fact, it went off better than I expected."

Keiichi stared. He had heard the stories from Belldandy about all the times her sister's potions would fail in the most spectacular ways when they were in Heaven, and far too few were missing the mention of explosions.

"Really?" He said, still disbelieving.

"Yes 'really' you twit!" Urd replied, "You could give me _some _credit, you know!"

"Well, your track record is far from stellar," Sora replied dryly, cutting Keiichi off from apologizing, "I am surprised that they even let you in the pharmacy anymore."

"I said it was an accident," Urd said defensively, "He doesn't even remember a thing about running around, trying to mark his territory on all the nearby fire hydrants!"

"Oh, really?" Sora asked, "And what type of potion was it supposed to be again?"

Urd muttered something incomprehensible, but Keiichi knew.

"What was that, Urd_-san_?" Sora asked, "I didn't quite get that."

"It was a love potion, okay?" Urd replied, "How was I supposed to know he was allergic to eggs?"

"Well, then," Belldandy said, breaking into the conversation, "if your guess is correct Neesan, we should be getting the bugs in about an hour?"

"Probably less," Urd sighed, thankful for the interruption in her losing argument.

"So what do we do until then?" Keiichi asked, sitting down between Urd and Sora. No sooner had he sat down, he heard a depressed sigh coming from Urd's direction. He looked over, but Urd looked more annoyed than depressed. Was he hearing things? He shook his head slightly and turned to look at Belldandy, who was deep in thought.

"We should set up something to lure them into one place," The younger Goddess said after a few moments of quiet contemplation, "It wouldn't be beneficial to get them here and catch less than half."

"True," Urd said, nodding her head, "We should set up some bait to lure them in with."

As one, the girls all looked at Keiichi.

"Great," He sighed, "so, what do I need to do?"

--

Keiichi didn't like this plan one bit. He was in the middle of the yard next to several oddities, such as a pink baseball bat, a cuddly teddy bear that was over four feet tall and a bicycle with one huge front wheel and one small one. To name the ones he recognized. There were a lot of smaller things like toys and models, but each of them looked like they came from some "bizzarro" Japanese game show.

"Can I take it back?" he said, barely moving his mouth. Why he had to stay completely still was beyond him.

"No," Urd said in a hushed tone from behind the bush directly behind him, "We need a human or something alive to be the keystone to the trap."

"But wouldn't that put me inside with them?" Keiichi asked.

"Yes." Urd hissed back, "Well, _technically:_ You will be in the center, true, but once the trap springs, it'll expand around and over you, like a balloon."

"And you are positive these things won't kill me?" He continued, "I have a date in several hours that I would like to make it to. Alive, if possible." After the description of the computer code gone wrong the Goddesses had given him, he was feeling _extremely_ vulnerable.

"You'll be fine," she continued, "The most that'll happen is one might hit you and you'll turn into a toad or something, but other than _that,_ you'll be right as rain in no time!"

Keiichi wished Belldandy and Sora would return from the store soon.

"So," Urd said, after a long pause, "about last night."

"Nothing happened! I swear!" Keiichi said quickly, feeling the heat rise to his face.

"That was a little... Defensive," Urd said slowly, Keiichi heard the depressed sigh again, thinking that somehow, he had hurt the Goddess's feelings.

"I'm sorry?" He replied weakly, "I didn't mean to make you depressed or anything."

"What are you talking about?" Urd asked.

"I mean, you started it, anyway," Keiichi continued, "It was nice and all, but it was my first time, you know." In his panicked state, he barely registered Belldandy and Sora return, hurriedly put their purchases in place and retreat to their appointed hiding spots.

"What?!"

"It was nice," he said again, feeling flummoxed. He could hear a soft sobbing coming from her direction. Did it really upset her that much?

"Would you please start speaking sense?" Urd asked. She sounded exasperated. Wait - if Urd was exasperated, and sora and Bell were too far away from him to hear, then who-

He didn't get a chance to finish the thought; several things happened all at once.

First was the noise to his left that sounded like Godzilla was about to descend on Nekomi. The thundering of it resonated through the amphitheater created by the buildings on all sides. He was not going to look that way to see what was coming towards him.

Second, from his left, he heard Sora start sneezing repeatedly. It wasn't the usual cute little "girl sneeze" she usually did, but ones that could have rivaled Tamiya or Otaki on one of their better days.

Next was the swarm of bunnies. Lots of bunnies. Each one had the cutest face he had ever seen, and eight of the most frightening faces he had ever seen to counteract their adorableness.

Also, "Thirteen" was pulled out of the apartment atop a sea of the creatures. The thing calmly tried swimming his way back onto the house, but the sheer volume of the wave of nightmarishly-cute creatures was hard to suppress, even for a robot.

Finally, Belldandy and Urd jumped out of their hiding places and held their hands up to the skies.

_Wonderful,_ Keiichi thought_, they are going to surrender and use me as a sacrifice of some sort._

And then, they sang.

It wasn't like previous times when he had heard the goddesses sing; their harmonies intertwined with one another, the rabid bunny-spiders, and him in a way he could not explain. There was something ethereal to it – as if a gossamer thread danced around the two women in blue to compliment the golden tones emanating from their lips. It seemed so otherworldly, and yet, something about it nagged at him, until he finally figured out what it was that he was hearing.

There were four voices singing instead of two.

--

Urd sang, her eyes half-closed as she did so, savoring the words that were dancing through her mind. Her sister and Holy Bell's voices mingled with hers, adding additional power to the spell. She reached out to Keiichi and Bell and Sora, just as she knew her sister was reaching out to Keiichi, Erdgeist and the bugs. It was frustrating, giving Bell so much of the power to weave, but it couldn't be helped; she could not get her angel to come out, and she was still afraid to do so, after the last time – the first time – she had tried.

Even now, that memory burned in her brightly, revealing her own stupidity and shame and sorrow for any who could see, and she hated herself for it.

She violently shook the thought away, though; one could not worry about the past, when the present presented itself as an even bigger challenge. She concentrated on singing, weaving her part with the delicate hands of a craftswoman.

Urd could feel her scalp itching, which was all the proof she needed that her part of this weaved spell was almost done. A little more of a nudge, and…

She smiled as she sang. The stupid, stupid wig finally popped off of her head, reverting back to its original form of one of the system bugs. As it was pulled into the nexus around Keiichi, she could see his eyes bulge, right before said bug hit him square in the face, knocked him on his ass and fell into his lap. Maybe that would teach the idiot to speak sensibly when asked a simple question!

Her part of the song was almost over. After this, she'd just have to play chorus to Belldandy as she brought the aria to a conclusion. In her mind, she could hear Holy Bell resonating with the song on both parts, adding a gentle accompaniment that could not be heard by the ears of humans, but felt in their very soul. If they had needed the power, would Bell have summoned Holy Bell to appear? She couldn't wait for that to happen; she knew it would scare the shit out of Sora almost as bad as the Cylon did.

Speaking of the Cylon: Urd watched from the corner of her eye as the creature inside swam its way away from its brothers. It seemed that the little bugger really wanted to stay. Had it fallen in love with its "Mommy?" She hoped so – Erdgeist was proving to be a riot when it came to annoying Sora, and she couldn't' wait to see what he was going to cook up, now that the statue had sentience.

Seeing that the bug-infested Cylon wasn't making any headway to escape, Urd flicked her hand, sending a small, unneeded stream of power at the robot. With the extra boost in the right direction, the thing used its impetus to escape and cling onto the side of the building for dear "life."

Urd finished her last refrain, and turned to focus her energies at Bell's song. The thumping that she had been ignoring had finally come into the forepart of her mind, so she turned to see if one or more of the creatures had fused into a gestalt.

What Urd saw, nearly made her lose it: One of the buggers had feet three times its size each, and, as it finally struggled and made a hop, the landing made the resonating crash.

That's good, Urd thought, at least it wasn't some Godzilla ripoff that we'd have to keep from ruining the city.

Still, it made her want to giggle, so she turned back towards Belldandy and the trap, to see that Keiichi was almost completely engulfed by the pests.

Urd shot Belldandy a "thumbs up" which her younger sister acknowledged with a small nod. In seconds, both of them lowered their hands perpendicular to their bodies, and resonated the same, clear, high note. As the note faded, the red-purple lines of the trap became visible, pulling all of the bugs up and away from the boy in the middle.

She and Bell clasped their hands together at the same time, and the whole bundle closed itself up like a flower, compressed, and then imploded into a shower of white, soap-like bubbles.

"Yes!" Sora said, coming from her hiding place behind the shed, "We got them all!"

"We got most of them, Sora-chan," Belldandy corrected, "I can bet we'll have several stragglers for a few days or so."

"Will they come here?" Keiichi asked as he dusted dirt from his pants, "More importantly: Are we going to have to do that again anytime soon?"

"No, and no," Urd replied before reaching behind her for her sake' bottle, "I'll bet we'll have to comb the city and look for them the old fashioned way." With that, she pulled out some glasses with orange-tinted lenses and put them on. She then put her fists on her hips, planted her feet and stuck her chin skywards to affect a dramatic pose.

Keiichi had ignored her, though – he was helping Belldandy and Sora clean the yard of footprints and miscellaneous debris left by the rampaging program errors.

"Jerk," she said under her breath.

_Ain't he just?_ The thought, was gone before she could discern if it were her own thought or not. She glowered at the boy, feeling annoyed that he was spending more time being nice, instead of being appreciative of her flair for the dramatic.

_He doesn't appreciate you._ The thought nagged at her for some reason. It seemed… Off. She shook her head and decided to join the group in cleaning up the place. Off impulse, she touched the part of her mind connected to World of Elegance off a whim, and felt the angel was still isolated from her. One of these days, she really needed to repair that bridge, but, to her dismay, she still didn't know how.

_Maybe you should give up on him, anyways._ This time, the thought brought Urd out of her funk.

"What?!" She said aloud, causing the others to look at her with concern. The voice in her mind was whispering to her, as if it were in her ear. It wasn't Holy Bell or anyone she could think of that could talk to her via thought, and Mother had been blocked from ever mind-talking to her with strong blocks that even the Almighty couldn't remove. This was something new.

"Oh, crap!" Keiichi exclaimed all of a sudden, looking at this watch, "I gotta go get ready for my date!"

It was odd. Too odd: One minute a voice was talking to her empathically, and the next, upon being caught out in the open, Keiichi had a need to escape.

Yes, it was very suspicious, indeed. Urd closed her eyes and concentrated, humming softly but quickly to herself to cast the required spell and…

_There you are_. Urd said in her mind. _I got you!_

"Sorry I can't stay," Keiichi said, panicked, "If I don't go now, I'll be home when the Seniors return, and they'll leave me no hot water to shower in!"

That clinched it: That was the most _pathetic_ excuse she had ever heard for making a hasty retreat, because it was definitely _very_ unlike him. With her mind focused, she opened her eyes, and concentrated on the nape of Keiichi's neck, reaching out with her power as if grabbing for something with her own hand.

_Contact!_ She thought triumphantly. _You aren't going anywhere!_

_Crap,_ the sound in her mind said, sounding annoyed and petulant at the same time. Urd knew only one type of thing in creation that could put multiple emotions into their voice, and that was…

"By the Almighty," Urd thought and said at the same time, "You're an angel, aren't you?"


	15. The Wreckoning

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for the book and fixing some of the problems I was having with this chapter. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 15

The _Wreck_oning

Keiichi fidgeted. He paced the small confines of his room, still stupefied at his luck. He hated ditching Belldandy, Sora and Urd so soon into their little project, but he couldn't pass this up - a chance like this only came once in a lifetime.

And he didn't want to screw it up.

He was half-anxious to call the number Sayoko gave him and politely reject the offer, even knowing that she was probably on her way to pick him up as he paced. He picked up the book in trembling hands. Maybe he should just give her this present in thanks, since it was the actual thought that counted?

He could feign illness - being sick was feasible; he could say that he got something from work that was contagious, etc. He could even use one of the spare masks he kept for when he used the paint gun.

Keiichi shook himself, trying to fight off the anxiety yet again. What if this were really some cruel prank that the rich played on those poorer than them? No. No, No, No. He knew better than to assume: He had to worry about what happened when it happened. If Sora could deal with her life being turned inside out and upside down because of her wish, why couldn't he deal with having a nice date with a woman?

So what if she was beautiful?

And smart?

And rich?

And completely, out of his league?

And he realized he was now babbling incoherently in his head - it was almost getting to the point where his nervous stomach would expunge itself on the closest thing he had to formal wear. He had given up on that green suit for the much more formal black pants, white shirt and tie he usually kept for weddings and funerals; the green suit had somehow been stained horribly when Keiichi had taken it out of the closet just as Hoshi was returning with a strange concoction that looked like one of Urd's failed potions. His roommate had crashed into the suit, dropped the hideous brew and, upon hitting the floor, the liquid sprayed all over the front of it, somehow changing its color to a sickly orange hue.

And the smell! It reminded Keiichi of rotting natto and kimchi! He bet that, if he ever smelled a durian, it wouldn't even come close to it! The only consolation was that the smell wasn't as bad as that of a skunk, and had left with the stained formalwear.

Hoshi had apologized and offered to pay for the cleaning, but between the color and the smell (which now, three weeks later, made him feel ill from just the memory) he had declared it a lost cause and Hoshi had at least agreed to keep the noise down when he was typing on his computer keyboard. That promise, as he found out last night, hadn't lasted long: Hoshi was back to his old ways, and he was sure that, if it continued, one of them would be thrown out of the dorm. Keiichi sighed, hoping a more peaceful resolution could be found soon.

Bringing himself out of the past, Keiichi looked at the book. It was wrapped in a nice bit of color suitable for acquaintances to give to one another. He finally had to put the thing on the table to possibly keep its packaging form getting ruined by his fumbling fingers. He dreaded what Sayoko's reaction to the book would be, especially since all he saw was blank pages and nothing else - on a whim, he put a small dot in pencil on a corner of a page . Within seconds, it had disappeared without a trace.

Keiichi still didn't know what to think. What if the book insulted or satirized Sayoko? What if, instead of turning her attention to him, it made the whole thing blow up in his face? And even worse: What if whatever Urd had done, actually didn't work properly, and it made Sayoko either become a mindless automaton, love someone else, or both? The thought increased his anxiety exponentially.

Should he go out and wait for her? Should he stay in the dorm until she pulled into the main driveway? Should he just hide under his covers? No - what he should do, is try to relax and find the calm he would need to survive this night with at least his dignity intact.

Keiichi sighed, giving up on his thoughts of giving up was the best course of action. He should just take things as they came to him, and roll with it as best as he could. He opened the door to his room, put on his shoes at the front door, and exited the dorm.

As soon as he had done so, Sayoko pulled into the driveway in her yellow Mercedes.

"Good timing," She said as the window rolled down, "I thought I was going to have to honk."

_This is it,_ Keiichi thought, fighting down the panic he felt inside. _Who knows? Maybe Sayoko will have fun tonight._ He smiled weakly and made his way over to the passenger side door.

"You are an angel, aren't you?" Urd repeated. She still couldn't see the creature, but knew it was there. She could feel its eyes on her as she tried to actually get a visible hint of it.

_Maybe I am. Maybe I ain't._ The reply was done in a gender-neutral voice that hid any information from her. Urd wanted to shake the thing until it finally gave up, she wanted information given freely, not coerced; that kind of information gave you more about a person than they believed it would, and helped you, even if the person was lying.

"Drop the act," Urd sighed, "I'm just asking questions to figure out what you're doing to the boy."

_He's not your problem._ This voice, though still neutral had an angered quaver to it. _It isn't like you could do anything for him, anyways._

Not her problem? Urd believed differently. She had seen what parasitic spirits did, even to Gods, and she sure as hell wasn't' going to let one hurt someone she knew.

Yet, that nagging "if" hung in the air. If only the damned thing would give her answers!

_Can I go now?_ It asked, sounding annoyed and bored at the same time. _I have something important to do. It's called "Not being here."_

"No," Urd replied, feeling a bit miffed herself, "I need some answers, and you seem to have them." Why was it always so hard to get someone to-

_Suck it._ The thing said, interrupting her thoughts. _Why don't you go play with your widdle bitty potions, and let me go on my way?_

Urd took a measured breath, exhaled and immediately reached out with her hand – her real hand - towards where she thought the thing was…

And grabbed it by the throat. Urd heard the most satisfying sound of a surprised gurgle she had ever heard in her life. It also helped that, upon contact, the shape of it rippled in her eyes.

_GURK!_

"Well, then," she said, a syrupy sweetness contrasting with the evil grin she now wore, "I tried it Bell's way, but now, I'm going to try it Hild's way."

There must have been something about how she said it that frightened the creature; faster than she could blink, she saw the thing appear before her.

It was definitely an angel, but one unlike any she had seen before. Most angels had pure white wings, but the feathers on this one's wings shimmered like opals, giving them an odd sheen any time they moved in the sunlight. It was also a female with long black hair and medium gray eyes. The thing was also totally nude, which cause Urd to blink. Most angels wore something, or were covered up with their hair or clouds, giving them not only a look of innocence, but of purity. The contrast made this new angel seem more primal, more… She couldn't put a word to it, because there was no word for it. Not savage, and certainly not wild. _Exotic._ That was it.

_Gurk!_ The angel repeated in a most satisfying way, its eyes widening. Oddly, it was changing color from pale white to red as Urd kept hold of the thing. With a sigh, Urd grabbed it by its arm with her free hand, releasing her grip on its throat. The color returned instantly.

_Let me go!_ The angel said, tugging furiously at her arm before giving up._ I need to get back to him!_

"Why?" Urd asked. The angel looked perplexed.

_Why?_ The angel parroted, looking dumbfounded. _Are you really sure you are a Goddess?_

Urd growled, yanking her closer so they were looking at each other eye-to-eye.

"Want me to show you?" She snarled. The angel visibly gulped, but only just; she did have to hand it to the creature that it could stand up to pressure, "I haven't used a thunderbolt on something in _days_."

With that, the angel's eyes went wide, and tears started brimming in them. Finally, one solitary tear broke free, curving its way down her cheek.

_PLEASE!_ The angel pleaded, stifling a sob. _If I don't go, it's gonna be bad for Keiichi!_

Urd wasn't buying it, though. This was one of the tactics she used to use against Freya, until Frigga clued her in on it. She barely stifled a smile in time.

"Denied." Urd said with finality, "I bet the next words out of your mouth were going to be 'it's a matter of life and death' or 'if I am not with him, he'll never meet his destined true love' or something similar."

Realizing that her con had failed, the angel sighed and went limp, acquiescing to Urd's control.

_Damn._

"On a scale of one to ten," Urd replied, "I'll give it a generous three."

The angel glared at her, but after a moment of looking diffident, the poor thing knew it wasn't going to win. It sighed, shrugged uncomfortably, and looked at her.

_So, whatcha gonna do?_ The angel asked, sounding both bored and nervous. _I really do need to get back to my job._

"And what job is that, exactly?" Urd asked, using a skeptical look to hide her interest, "Tormenting humans? Making their lives miserable?"

The look of astonishment on the angel's face surprised Urd; she was expecting a lie, or backpedalling on its part, but this was totally unexpected.

_Are you serious?_ The angel asked, sounding as astounded as she looked. There was no duplicity to it, so it was actually a much more genuine response than she had been receiving. _You really don't know?_

Urd opened her mouth to respond with an angry comment, but decided against it. She needed answers to these questions, and playing tag with questions and answers was really annoying her.

"No," She said through gritted teeth, "Nobody has ever heard of an angel not tied to someone before."

The angel gave her a measured look. She had her arms crossed over her chest, with one finger and thumb cradling her chin.

_But I _am_ tied to someone._ The angel said slowly.

"Where are they, then?" Urd asked.

_He just left._

"How?" Urd asked, perplexed, "I didn't see any Gods le-"

That's when Urd answered the question for herself. It wasn't an angel attached to a God, but rather, this particular one was attached to Keiichi.

"Holy shit!" Urd exclaimed, "You're Keiichi's angel?"

_Dingdingdging! We have a winner!_ The angel smirked.

"Impossible!" Urd exclaimed, "Humans don't have angels!"

_Then what am I?_ The angel asked, frowning, _Am I natto that's been out in the sun too long?_

Urd blinked. How was this possible? The Gods should have known about this. The _Almighty_ should have known about this!

But maybe he did. The Almighty usually didn't tell anyone his grand plans, so why should he tell the other gods about them now? The implications made Urd feel as if she was wading waist deep into a quagmire.

"Okay, then," Urd said to the angel, "If you are an angel, why haven't we been able to tell you were there?" She wanted to ask more, but felt that barraging the creature would just make her clam up instead of give useful, believable answers.

The angel thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. _Ain't got nuthin'._

Great. She needed answers, and the one source she had, knew even less than she did.

_Can I go now?_ The angel asked, looking nervously from side to side, as if hoping to find something to club Urd with and escape while she was unconscious. _I really do need to be there for him._

"Nope." Urd replied simply. The angel whimpered and, even though she hadn't moved, she could feel it pulling at the mystical restraint Urd still had a firm mental grip on.

Now, here was the problem: What was she really going to do with it? She could hold it for inquisition indefinitely, or she could sweat out as much information as she could and then follow it to see what it was really doing. Maybe she could put some sort of magical tracker on it, like a collar?

She discarded all of these; she didn't want to think like Hild in any way, shape or form. It was quite the conundrum, and she really had no real way to resolve it to both her and the angel's satisfaction.

"Neesan," Belldandy said, starting Urd from her funk, "is something wrong?"

"Er.. No," Urd replied shakily, "What makes you say that?"

Belldandy gave her a questioning look before glancing to Urd's left. Urd turned and saw her hand, still outstretched around the angel's throat. She felt her mouth go dry.

"What's there, Neesan?" Bell whispered, "Is it another bug from the Anomaly? Did the bugs make something in the yard invisible?"

The first thing that came to mind was to lie – to say that yes, indeed one of the bugs had made a pole invisible, and Urd had found it by walking into it with her shoulder and was now holding it to keep anyone else from falling victim to it.

But this was exactly what she needed: Urd needed Bell's ability to think outside of the box in such an obscure way to actually help her piece this together. Bell had also read up more on angels in general than she had, so it might even produce more information than Urd had initially expected.

"Actually," Urd said, looking at her outstretched hand, and the angel held there, "I think I have a little puzzle that you can help me solve."

Sora muttered to herself as she picked up the remains of the spell. Belldandy had gone over to her sister to see what the other woman was up to and (hopefully) ask her to continue on with helping them clean up the place.

Oddly, there wasn't as much as there was when they started. Had the things been there to distract the cute, weird little things? Maybe, like the… "Thing"… That Belldandy had somehow convinced to help with the cleanup, they had attached themselves to an object, become animated and disappeared? The thought of the little drinks umbrella opening and closing as it floated in the air like a dandelion seed made her giggle.

She wished Ed was here to help, too; the Goddesses couldn't use their powers further tonight, so the whole thing, like the setup, had to be done physically. She moved forward a bit more and saw said drink umbrella. For some reason, it left her feeling as sad as it did relieved.

Sora looked up to see Bell and Urd discussing something between them. Oddly, Urd held one hand outstretched as if she were grasping something invisible in mid-air. Whatever it was that they were discussing mush have been interesting, because Bell clapped her hands together happily and said something to her sister while waving her arms and pointing excitedly at the invisible object in Urd's hand. Maybe they had caught one of the renegade bugs through sheer luck? Sora decided that, when the time was right, they would tell her what was going on.

She sighed and continued picking up the rest of the stuff. Fortunately a lot of it had been from the knick-knack store near the edge of town, so it hadn't broken her bank account, but still, she wondered what they were going to do with a lot of it. Should they give it to their neighbors? Should the stuff be left at the Auto Club? Who knows – with the way the mood in the club had been recently, maybe this would cheer the gang up a bit.

Sora's thoughts went to the club, and why the group had been in such a funk. The three-wheeler they had for the upcoming rally in April was almost finished, but they would need volunteers to both drive and navigate. The thing was that they usually "volunteered" Keiichi against his will, but there really wasn't anyone to ride shotgun for him. Would they "volunteer" her the same way? Since none of the others really could fit into the three-wheeler, it was going to be very likely that she would be roped into that position.

And if that wasn't bad enough: Sora knew Belldandy was going to still sign her up for the Miss Nekomi Pageant in less than a month. She really didn't want to participate, for fear that she would get up there and lose her lunch (_and_ breakfast _and_ dinner from the night before) and humiliate herself in front of the whole student body. She could just feign sickness, or even better: She could get eliminated right off the bat. While it might disappoint Bell, Sora didn't think she'd make it past the first round to begin with.

It wasn't that she thought herself too fat or too thin, but rather that she thought of herself as too plain. Between her glasses and her freckles and the competition she'd be up against like Sayoko or several of the girls from the cheerleading squad, she knew she didn't make the grade.

She sighed. The next few months were not going to be that fun in the least. At least her grades were really good – moving out of the dorms had been a blessing, because she no longer had to worry about the noises coming from anyone else's rooms, nor did she have to deal with the annoying weekend parties that broke her concentration whenever she had to study.

That thought made her smile, though. It was extremely advantageous to have a goddess living under your roof – especially one that had a thirst for knowledge.

And the tea blend that Bell served Sora whenever the Goddess helped her understand the fiddly bits that confused her. She could almost taste it as she thought about it. She shook her head, feeling both annoyed and frustrated with herself. It was as if she was becoming a tea snob like those stuck-up girls in the Tea Ceremony Club, and she didn't want to become like that.

And yet it truly was wonderful tea.

"Sora!" Urd cried from across the yard, "I need your help over here!"

Sora looked over at the elder Goddess, to see what was up. In the midst of her thoughts, Belldandy had disappeared to somewhere, leaving Urd looking as if she were still fixed in place. She noticed the other woman's hand was still outstretched, as if she had hold of something intangible.

"What's up?" Sora asked, pointedly casting her eyes briefly to the outstretched hand. She was thinking of making a witty comment, but sadly, none had come to her.

"I'm stuck," the Goddess answered, "Could you bring me a glass of water?"

"Stuck?" Sora asked, suspiciously.

"Yeah," Urd said, annoyed, "stuck."

"Is it a bug?"

"No. Just get me the water, okay?"

"No sake'?"

"No," Urd said through gritted teeth, "Just. Water. Now."

"Okay, okay," Sora said, putting her hands up in surrender, "Here I am, going to get some water for you."

Sora rolled her eyes, but went to fetch the water, anyway. When she finished filling the glass and went outside, she didnt' see Urd anywhere.

"Urd?" Sora called, looking everywhere for the Goddess, "Come on. This isn't funny!"

But Urd really wasn't there. Sora went over to the spot Urd had been planted in, and sure enough, the woman's boot prints were still there, with none leading off into another direction. It wasn't that she was expecting to see any, since she knew that Urd did have the same pole-jumping skills Belldandy had shown her earlier, but it was disturbing to have someone disappear without even a word, especially when Urd had the habit of letting people know when and where she was going, even if she didn't know when she'd return.

With a sigh, Sora returned to picking up the stuff in the yard. She knew she would get answers - she just hoped they wouldn't be the precursor to more problems down the way.

Sayoko grinned from ear-to ear, knowing she had found just the perfect thing for Keiichi Morisato's entertainment tonight.

Monster trucks.

She could see him now, standing up, whooping and hollering and having the time of his life. He was in the Auto Club, and since her sources said that the majority of the members usually went to these events whenever they could, it was a sure bet that he was one of the few that would be happy there.

Sayoko envisioned bringing him to meet the main designer of Truckasaurus, the one that devoured Pintos as if they were a light snack; he had interned at Mishima before going on to his own independent ventures.

Maybe, she'd take him to Corporate, so he could see some of the latest things R&D was working on, as well. He was sure to find half of the modifications they were doing in their security escort projects interesting.

She looked over at the boy from the corner of her eye. He was sitting quietly, not looking at the road or her, but at the gift in his hand. Of course she'd accept it, but from her experiences with things like this, she knew it would be something dull that she'd have to hide away in storage. Maybe it was chocolates, though; if that were the case, she could just give them to the maids when she was through.

"You're awfully quiet," Sayoko said, still glancing at him as she shifted down to third for the corner.

"Yeah," he said, sheepishly, "sorry about that. I've just had a lot on my mind, is all."

Sayoko shifted gears again before speaking to the boy.

"Such as?" She offered.

"I'm sorry," Keiichi said, "what?"

Sayoko suppressed a sigh and continued, "You have some things on your mind. Such as..?"

"Ah," Keiichi replied, "just school stuff. Finals, elections, club activities. The usual."

She knew he was lying - his knuckles were white as he clenched the mysterious present. She decided to humor him and play along.

"Finals are still a long way off," She said, "So what is it about the elections that has you so antsy? Or is it the Auto Club that's bothering you."

"A little of both," he said, sighing, "It seems that both things are tied to the schemes of my seniors in the Auto Club."

"I see," Sayoko said, nodding.

"I've already refused to run," he continued, "and somehow, they _still_ got the application sent in with my name on it."

Sayoko nodded again. Sometimes, it felt as if she were being railroaded by her family and members of high society. Sometimes, you had to play by their rules, and other times...

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked, curiously. His hands tightened further on the book and shrugged.

"Undecided. I'll figure it out, though. All of their hijinks atop of everything else is just making things a bit more stressful than I am used to."

Sayoko nodded agreement, but was feeling a bit frustrated; She was trying to get conversation rolling, but he clammed up as soon as a topic came up. What could she do to fix it?

As if discerning her thoughts, Keiichi took a deep breath, and said something for the first time without her prompting.

"So," he said, looking at her with a nervous smile, "How about you?"

The remark threw her a bit, because she had been expecting to lead the whole conversation. She didn't want to talk about herself too much, fearing he was just getting a sales pitch. She took a minute to shift into second after traffic got rolling to answer.

"Thankfully," she said, still focusing on the traffic around her," the course I am taking this time are just electives. I missed the deadline for registering, due to business in England during the break."

"Ouch," He said sympathetically, "I have that scheduling issue next semester." After a quick pause, he added, "So, how _is_ England?"

"Nice," She replied, "but wet. Very wet. When I jokingly asked a contact there if it really was like this all the time, he honestly said 'Yes' and mentioned that he had brought an umbrella for us, even though the weather report claimed there would be clear skies."

He laughed at that. In hindsight, it was indeed funny. She hadn't been amused at the time, because she knew not only was she going to miss out on her electives, the job she was overseeing for her father could go pear-shaped at any time. She squashed that thought down and simply enjoyed the memory.

The conversation almost died off there, until Keiichi made some small talk, which surprised her. She had pegged him as the type that would just ride along with a conversation from her few points of contact with him. Apparently, she had miss-guessed his character.

They talked for a bit about classes they were going to take, and some that they were told to avoid. They had been in agreement until one name came up.

"Fujisawa?" Sayoko said, surprised, "The lush?"

"He's not a lush," Keiichi replied defensively, "He's been one of the best teachers I have had in humanities yet."

"I had him for World Lit, the last semester of last year," Sayoko said, "His teaching style was all over the place, his writing was shoddy, and he never had any office hours. I dropped him right before the add/drop period closed."

"Ah," Keiichi said "So you were in that class, too?"

"Yeah," she said, feeling her annoyance at the professor well up again, "an acquaintance had recommended it to me, too."

"Whoever it was had been right to do so. He's a good teacher. I took him for World Lit 2 during the winter break classes for extra credits."

"How?!?" She exclaimed, giving him a dumbfounded look, "The guy was a menace to anyone in his class! Remember that girl in the front that ran out crying on the third day?"

"Yeah," Keiichi said, "That was his niece."

"So, what was she doing there? She didn't look like she came back after that."

"Apparently, she had been trying to get hold of him for a month," Keiichi replied, "and when he didn't even notice her in the class, it hurt her immensely."

"Of course it would!" She replied, shoving the stick a little bit harder into gear than necessary, "Anyone would be mad that a relative didn't recognize them!"

"She wasn't mad," Keiichi said softly, looking at his hands atop the present.

"Well, then," She said, exasperated, "What was it?"

Keiichi took a deep breath, making Sayoko wonder just what had happened that she missed. Usually, she was in the know about everything on campus, but this was a complete mystery to her. Did he have a nervous breakdown? Was he denied tenure?

"Mister Fujisawa's wife had been killed in an accident less than a month before classes started," Keiichi said, "With the exception of his brother's family, she was all the family he had."

Sayoko was at a loss for words.

"His niece had been trying desperately to hear back from her uncle, fearing he had drunk himself into the side of a tree right after it happened. She finally had to track him down to his class, and even with her in the front row, he barely even registered that she was in his class at all."

"How did you find out about this?" She asked, "I never even heard a whisper of it."

"The Dean came in right after the class drop deadline," Keiichi said, "He got us a substitute teacher for a few days, and asked us to not say anything."

"I'm not talking about the class," She said, "You seem to know about the niece thing firsthand, and the Dean surely wouldn't have known that."

"Yeah," he said. After a pause, he continued, "One of my friends knew the girl, because she was dating a friend of hers from the same high school, and they had kept in touch. When she and I were chatting, and I mentioned Fujisawa…" He shrugged, "Still, I am glad I stuck with it. He's teaching World Lit III this year, and I already signed up for it."

"He's really that good?" Sayoko gave him a skeptical look as she asked the question.

"I think he is," Keiichi shrugged, "and so do most of the students that stuck with him."

"I see," she said. She would have said more, but they were nearing their destination. She pulled the car neatly into the garage, flashed her ID to the security guard, and rolled her way to the family's reserved spot.

"We're here," Sayoko said, smiling at Keiichi, "The first stop for the night."

Keiichi was still feeling a bit anxious about this whole "date" as it had been going. He had wanted to give Sayoko the book first-off, but she had taken off like wildfire the minute he had his seatbelt on.

He had tried several times to bring it up, but each time, he just left it hanging. He had hoped that their experiences with their teachers would have let him segue into offering the book, but when he Brought up World Lit, the whole conversation went in a way he had completely failed to anticipate. Maybe he should just leave it in the car for her to find, at this rate.

He undid the seatbelt, opened his door, and went over to open Sayoko's door, but she had already exited the vehicle.

What he saw shocked him.

Sitting down, she had looked as if she were wearing her usual business attire that she almost wore as a uniform at school. It was a different color and, now that he could see it better, it was more like an overcoat than part of a suit. He swallowed hard when he saw that, underneath it, he could see the sparking black fabric of what he suspected to be a formal dress.

He felt completely underdressed when his stood next to her.

Suppressing a sigh, he followed slightly behind her, knowing that she would have to go first in order to get them where they were going. Oddly, he could hear a slight rumble coming from the same direction they were heading to.

Sayoko walked over to the Information Desk and calmly held out her hand. The girl behind the counter smiled at her and him before offering a clipboard to Sayoko. She signed it, and traded it for two passes. Sayoko clipped one to her lapel, and he clipped his to the pocked of his shirt.

They made their way down the hall to the main entrance of the venue. With each step, the sound increased until it felt as if it were originating from Keiichi's chest. The doors opened, and the sound exploded like the roar of some unholy beast. At last, he understood what this was that Sayoko brought him to.

Monster trucks.

The smell of them permeated the air; the stench of burning oil and tires and that hot smell given off by machines pushed to their limit intermingled with the smell of tobacco for an unusual aroma. Sayoko led him up the ramp, exposing the whole venue. Mud was spraying behind three of the behemoths' enormous tires while a fourth pounded a row of cars into flat hunks of metal, plastic and broken glass.

It was as if he had entered a nightmare.

He glanced over at Sayoko, who was beaming triumphantly, as if she had brought him to the best place in the world. She looked over at him, and he hoped the smile plastered on his face was convincing. Did she really think that this was a good place for a date? Had she been reading "Rednecker's Monthly" or something similar?

Or worse: Was this what she perceived he was interested in, just because he hung around with the guys from the Auto Club? His shoulders slumped at the thought.

Sayoko had said something, but he couldn't hear her over the roar of the engines and grinding metal. She pointed, and he merely nodded, following her as she wended her way through the cheering crowd to the truck entrance.

A flicker caught his eye, and his attention was drawn to the center screen. Displayed on all four screens was a woman. She was wearing one of those absurd beer hats with the ridiculous straws hanging down the side; the woman's mouth seemed to be mouthing the word "woo" over and over again in various lengths. There was something oddly familiar about her that he couldn't place.

That didn't matter though; the woman saw herself on the screen, and started jumping up and down wildly.

Keiichi's eyes almost popped out of his head. The woman was barely wearing a thing! How on earth did she ever make it past security? Or was this sort of thing so commonplace, that they hired models to sit in the crowd not only to perpetuate the behavior, but also advertise certain products. He didn't really want to know - he just wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

He looked back to see that Sayoko was also looking at the scene on the screen, her mouth turned into a frown. She reached into her coat, flipped open her phone, and called a number. In seconds from when she closed the phone, Security guards were being shown on the screen with the lady, trying their best to pull her out of the venue. The can quickly panned to one of the trucks, and the crowd's attention forgot the "woo girl" instantly.

Sayoko looked over at him, encouraging him to follow her with a motion of her hand. Seeing that he started to follow again, She continued on to the main entrance for the trucks. He followed as best as he could, but several times lost sight of her when the crowd erupted in applause, jumping out of their seats, or jumping onto their seats to get a better view as they cheered.

Keiichi wondered what else he was going to have to endure this night. It made him wish he had just stayed at home, instead of accepting.

When he lost Sayoko for the third time, he stopped to look around. The crowd and the noise from the trucks had quieted down a bit, and the crowd had lulled as well. Was it intermission?

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The PA boomed, almost causing him to jump out of his skin, "It's now the moment everyone's been waiting for! The one! The ONLY... TRUCKASAURUS WRECKS!"

He didn't get to see it come out of the staging area; once more the crowd had erupted in mayhem around him, blocking everything but the wall of people from his view.

Keiichi really hated being so short at times like this.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed hold of his, pulling him along. As the crowd broke around him, he saw Sayoko giving him a look that was mostly annoyance... and was that a hit of concern? He must have been seeing things. He didn't get a chance to think on it too much on the look, because she pulled him on towards their destination.

Sparing a glance for their interlocked hands, he blushed. He knew it was silly, but this was one of the only times someone other than his mother or sister had ever held his hand, and it felt nice. He hoped this trend would definitely continue for the rest of the night.

In what seemed like minutes, they were at their destination: The walkway down to the staging area. It was blocked not only by a gate, but a big, intimidating man almost as wide as Tamiya, but he was only a head taller than Keiichi. The man had recognized Sayoko immediately, and opened the gate for her. She let go of his hand to wave a thanks to the guard, and headed past the gate towards the door. The guard was about to prevent him from going through until he saw the pass on his lapel. He nodded slightly, sizing up Keiichi as he passed by. It seemed to take all of Keiichi's strength just to nod back cordially.

"So, what do you think of Truckasaurus?" Sayoko asked as she made her way into "The Pit", or at least, that was where the sign Keiichi saw said they were heading, "We bought the rights to the name when one of our interns took an interest in it on a trip to the US."

Keiichi nodded. He knew who was meant by "we." He was going to ask her something, but the heiress continued on.

"It took a while to build, but we made a few adjustments to the original design. It can actually eat twenty five cars before needing maintenance."

"It eats cars?" He said in disbelief, "Whole?"

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand, and continued to head towards their destination, "No," Sayoko sighed, "It's more like it crushes... I don't know. You'll be able to ask the guy that built it, now come on."

Keiichi smiled. This was the stuff that interested him! The trucks themselves were okay, but watching them run wasn't anywhere near as exciting as how they ran. Who knows? Maybe with luck, they'd let him peek under the hood of Truckasaurus itself.

And Sayoko was the one that thought of this. He admitted that even if he had any excuse at all to be with Sayoko, he found it comforting to be in an environment he knew. Who knows? Maybe she was a closet motor head, and this was her subtle way of telling him? He didn't get to think on it much, because they finally made it to their destination.

The place was busy, but not manically so. It reminded Keiichi of those times during regional competitions the Auto Club had participated in; an orderly chaos of people getting things done as quickly and safely as possible akin to an intricate dance. The thought made him think of his mother, who loved to philosophize while playing Mahjong with some of the local elderly, just as she was about to sink a big hand.

They went over to the only vacant port, where several of the junior staff cleaned the floor by sweeping up debris or did the same to their tools before putting them back in their predetermined places in the toolboxes. Without thinking about it, Keiichi went to one of the ends, stood next to one of the men, and looked at the object.

"So," Keiichi said, still looking at the object. It looked like part of a hydraulic system to him, but he wasn't sure, "What is it for?"

"It's a hydraulic system," the mechanic next to him said. Everyone in the line turned and angled themselves to look at him, but he barely noticed.

"I see that," he said, still looking at it, "I asked what it was for."

The man looked about to say something to Keiichi, but he looked over Kei's shoulder, and promptly answered the question.

"It's supposed to be for the mouth," The mechanic explained, "But it won't fit. We'll need to resize the whole jaw to fit it."

"Is it too small, or too big?" He asked. Either way, he did a few mental calculations in his head from what little he had seen of Truckasaurus in the past regardless.

"Too small," The mechanic answered, "It's a more powerful unit, but the dimensions were mistakenly inverted."

"Why not use long bolts and spacers of plate metal to compensate?" Keiichi asked, still working on the numbers, "Or why not just move it further up the jaw to the joint?"

"Who are you?" another mechanic asked, sounding annoyed as he came over to Keiichi, "I don't-"

"He's my friend," Sayoko said, standing next to him. The other man swallowed, and backed away.

"What makes you think it'll work?" The first mechanic asked, frowning, "We've been trying to get this thing in for a week now."

"I've seen this at my part-time job," Keiichi answered with a shrug, "Winch hand to a boom mike was broken at the joint, so the chief tech took an old one he'd stored away from a smaller model, drilled some holes, and slapped it in. It saved us a month's worth of shooting time, instead of waiting for the parts to be shipped to us from overseas."

"There's nothing between the mounting brackets and the hinges," a third tech said, "The jaw's completely open to let scrap fall through."

"Why not mount it to the frame, then? Take some long bolts, sandwich the jaw frame in a few inch-thick plates, then spot weld it in key points for extra strength."

Someone down the line gave a low whistle, but Keiichi merely shrugged.

"What's your name, Son?" The first mechanic asked, holding out a hand, "I'm Kaoru Nakajima."

"Keiichi Morisato." Keiichi answered, shaking the other man's hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kaoru said, "Still, that was a good call."

"I really can't take the credit," he said, shrugging again, "The chief engineer at the place I work does this kind of stuff all the time."

"Kaoru," Sayoko said to the mechanic, "since you've introduced yourselves, I'll leave you to give him the grand tour of the place." She waved to Keiichi, "I'm going to check on our dinner reservation, so I won't be long. The reception down here is atrocious."

"Sure," he said, nodding for emphasis. When she turned to take her leave, the other mechanics formed a semicircle around him, almost as if he were a puzzle to be worked out like the hydraulic system.

Sayoko ended the call, satisfied that she decided to extend the reservation for another two hours. If she was right, Keiichi would be talking to the other mechanics for a while about their trade, and even with clear roads, she couldn't break it past 75 for too long with all the radar cameras, so it was always better to take precautions.

She stuffed her phone into her pocketbook, making her way back down to the staging area at a casual pace to let Keiichi's tour to work its way out of the staging area, so she could slip into the office and check the numbers to see how well things were going. Everything was fine the last time she came out, but with things like the wrong hydraulic system order Keiichi had inquired about, she'd rather err on the side of caution.

What awaited her upon her return was totally unexpected.

Keiichi was surrounded by the rest of the workers, looking extremely nervous. He was smiling and politely answering questions, but his hand was on the back of his head in an anxious, apologetic way.

He noticed her, and the group, looking towards her, immediately scattered, save Kaoru, the Chief Engineer. The man flushed, and pulled Keiichi over to some of the more interesting bits in Truckasaurus's bay.

Well, since she couldn't look at the numbers in peace, she would just give them a quick look to see if anything was out of the ordinary. With any luck, she wouldn't be disturbed for a few minutes, at least.

As she neared the door, she looked over to where Keiichi and Kaoru were looking. She saw Keiichi looking at her before giving her a small wave. Unconsciously, she returned the wave while smiling before entering the office.

Sayoko closed the door, opened the drawer, and flipped through the expense report. Nothing was out of place that she could see, so she just put the file back, and exited the office after a scant five minutes.

Keiichi was still with Kaoru, but several others were returning to talk to the young man, whose stance tensed noticeably as more of the mechanics gathered.

Which meant that those mechanics were probably up to no good. She could bet they were trying to get the latest gossip out of him, as if they were old women. She frowned and made her way over to the growing group.

"So," Sayoko said, making her way into the group, who had all clammed up once they knew she was nearby, "shall we continue on with the rest of our date?"  
The men all looked at Keiichi, who swallowed and nodded an affirmative.

"Sure," he said weakly. The men were staring intently at him, which cause the young man to flush slightly. Annoyed, Sayoko took his hand and led him back the way they came, not even giving the mechanics a chance to say goodbye to either of them.

They made their way in silence to the exit. They didn't leave the way they came in, instead leaving through one of the side exits halfway between The Pit and the main doors to the arena.

"So," Sayoko asked, "What did you think of it?"

"It was nice," Keiichi replied, still looking nervous, "Vary interesting stuff they are working on down there."

For some reason, his reaction annoyed Sayoko to no end.

"You seemed to be quite the hero," She said, slowing her pace to give her a better chance to gauge his reaction, "they were acting as if you performed some miraculous feat."

To her satisfaction, Keiichi seemed to stumble a bit, tripping over himself both physically and verbally.

"N-not really," he stuttered, "It was all just a fluke! It could happen to anyone under those circumstances!"

"I see," she said, watching his face flush. "So were you able to get it explained to them?"

"I-I," He said, sweating, "I guess so. I hope so."

"Good," she nodded, "Then you must have saved them a lot of time with that piece of whatever-it-was."

"What? Keiichi said, looking surprised. She was going to repeat herself when he started to reply.

"Oh," He said, looking relieved, "Yeah. That. They said they'd look at it more to see if they could improve on it, but they felt confident they'd have it in in a few days, tops."

"That?" What on Earth did he mean by "That?"

"Great," She said, passing her question by for now. Maybe she'll ask him later when the conversation died again.

"Did you want to stay and watch the rest of the show?" Sayoko asked, "I extended the reservation in case you did."

"Oh, no," He said smiling, "Anything's fine. Whatever you've got planned, I'm game."

"Really?" She stated, "And what if I took us to the Museum next?"

"That'd be fine," Keiichi answered slowly, flushing softly, "It's not the 'where' you go to, but rather the 'who' you go with."

The sincerity in his words made her smile. The way he said it didn't reek of ambition or riches or prestige. Instead, it focused on the core of the man himself: Keiichi Morisato was indeed the type of person who would indeed enjoy going anywhere and doing anything with the people he cared about, even if it were the most boring thing in the world...

Or the most exciting for that matter.

The thought made her smile at him. He returned it just as warmly.

They made their way to the McLaren, and Sayoko remoted the security off, and unlocked the doors. To her surprise and amusement, Keiichi get ahead of her and opened the driver's side door for her. She smiled as she sat down.

"Do I need to tip you?" She said playfully, and Keiichi missed a beat.

"Um, no," He said nervously, "I-it's fine. Really." Keiichi closed the door after she had settled. He was so innocent, that his flirting either went in one ear and out the other, or he did receive the flirtatious way she had said that, and didn't know how to react.

Either way, she thought this would be a lot of fun.

She waited for Keiichi to get in before starting the car. She was about to put the car into reverse, when he forestalled her.

"Sayoko," He said, his hands clenching again at the present in his hands, "before we head out, I'd like to give you this."

_Why now?_ She thought, looking at him quizzically, and he continued.

"I was going to give this to you earlier," Keiichi said, "but I was barely in the car before we took off, and..." he shrugged as he trailed off, holding the gift out to her.

Still looking at it curiously, she reached out her hand for it. When she took hold of it, she noted that it wasn't a gift box; the feel of it was soft and giving like that of fabric, and when he let go, she felt the weight of the present fully. Holding it made her fingertips feel warm and tingly, as if they had been lightly touched static electricity.

It certainly wasn't chocolates.

She tentatively held the present before pulling off the wrapping paper.

She looked at it, it had an odd effect to it - as she changed its angle, she thought she could see the gold filigree slowly form the title of the book, but it faded when she turned it at another angle.

Sayoko eyed it oddly, still perplexed not only at the choice of gift, but also the vanishing text. Had it even been there in the first place? She couldn't even remember what the title had been; all she remembered was it was either English or German, but couldn't quite recall which.

"Thank you," She said, after a few moments of looking at it. It looked aged, but in excellent condition, almost as if whomever had bought it put it on a shelf and never looked at it again. She thumbed through a few pages before stopping at the table of contents. From the look of it, it seemed to be an anthology of short stories and small novellas.

"You're welcome," Keiichi answered back, looking at his hands, "I," he trailed off, sighing. It was if he had wanted to explain his choice, but decided against it.

"I hope you like it," He said feebly. She smiled and placed the book in compartment in the armrest.

"I'm sure I will," she said reassuringly. Who knows? The book might be as intriguing as its cover, for all she knew.

After that, the drive seemed short. They had talked about some classes, comparing the differences in their curriculums, and several times he had asked her about several teachers she thought would be good to take for electronics.

"To learn how motors work," he said when she had asked him why, "You need to understand everything about them: Engines nowadays are just as computerized as your PC. If you don't understand the device that sparks the fuel, how can you hope to get the whole system to work?"

Even though she knew she wouldn't get all the workings therein, she did get the gist of it. She nodded her basic understanding, and Sayoko pointed him to several teachers she had enjoyed taking classes with.

Before she knew it, they were back in Nekomi. She looked at the clock, half expecting to have reached the city in record time. Thankfully the clock noted they had made it according to her guesstimated time to arrive in the city.

She stifled a sigh of relief. If she had gotten that many tickets in one night, her father would have been furious with her.

"So," Keiichi said, pulling her out of her thoughts, "where are we going next?"

"To a place I know," Sayoko replied, "The food is fantastic. I guarantee you'll love it!"

"Ah," he nodded, "The place with the reservations."

"Yes, and it looks like we won't need the extension, unless you're an incredibly slow eater."

"I get by," he shrugged smiling. With a grin, she shifted gears, and stepped on the pedal.

Keiichi was having the time of his life. Somehow, he had managed to open his mouth and talk to Sayoko and, to his pleasant surprise, she was much less of an ice queen than rumors made her out to be. He still couldn't believe how easily the jitters had subsided, once they actually started talking.

The McLaren had squealed like a stuck pig when Sayoko had punched it, but the exhilaration of the sudden push into his seat as well as how quickly it accelerated made up for the noise. He even heard Sayoko laugh as she made him press against the chair form its high acceleration.

He didn't have time to think more on it, because just as quickly as it had started, they came to a stop at the next light. Sayoko still had a smirk on her face, and didn't look over at him. He tried to look annoyed, but he couldn't. When he finally thought of a retort, the light turned green and she goosed the gas a bit, causing him to lean back in the seat again.

"Very funny," he said, feigning exasperation.

"Of course it is," she said, turning to grin at him, "I was the one doing it."

So, the debutante had a playful side, too. It was good to know.

Sayoko then pulled them into a parking garage, flashed her license to the attendant, and finally parked at a reserved spot. It still amazed him that anyone could have reserved parking anywhere, especially with the lack of space for garages in the first place. Keiichi really didn't want to know how much any of these spots cost the family per year.

Sayoko turned off the engine, and Keiichi stepped out of the car. He went over to Sayoko's side of the car, and opened the door for her. He also held out his hand and offered to assist her out of the car as any gentleman would. She graciously accepted, and he gently took her hand and focused on it; too embarrassed to look her quite in the eye.

It also didn't help that he had a good look at her amazing legs as she got out of the vehicle.

"So, Keiichi," Sayoko said as they were walking to the elevator, "Have you ever had French cuisine before?"

"To be honest," he said, "I think I had French bread once. Does that count?"

"Hardly," she sighed pushing the "up" button, "Well, do you mind if I order, since I know the menu a bit better?"

"Go ahead," he said as the elevator door opened, "Just no _'e-su-ka-a-go-to'_, please."

"_Escargot_," Sayoko repeated back, putting the correct inflections in, "and there isn't anything to worry about there: For all the things foreigners have ever made fun of the Japanese for eating, those are far worse by a thousandfold." The way she had said the word was incredibly sexy, and he noted he'd have to get her to say some more French sometime later in the night. He mentally shook himself, and tried to calm down.

"Well, with that settled," he said, feeling a bit better that she seemed to share his view on fried slime-creatures, "What are we going to do after this?"

"Something," she said noncomittally, "Besides: I thought it didn't really matter to you."

"It doesn't," Keiichi replied, "but it doesn't mean I can't be curious, does it?"

"True."

The elevator opened, and the Maitre 'd escorted them directly from the elevator to the podium. He confirmed the reservation and personally led them to their table. Keiichi tried to offer Sayoko a seat, but the other man took her coat and seated her. He then came over and offered a seat to Keiichi, and he accepted, knowing the man was only doing his job.

"The usual vintage, Madame?" The Maitre 'd asked.

"_Oui._"Sayoko replied, picking up her menu and started to scan it. Keiichi glanced at it politely, but considering the whole thing was in French, he was at a loss. Before he knew it, Sayoko had ordered, and the menus had been taken away He didn't know what _"fromage" _was, but it sure sounded ominous.

While they waited, Sayoko told him a little about this place and how she had found it when she had gotten sick of the usual fare made at home; her father had basically made the menu so routine she could swear that he set his calendar to it. As she talked, he looked around a bit, curious about this place his date liked so much. As he glanced at things, Sayoko seemed to follow his eyes, and had guessed fairly accurately at what he was looking at.

The top floor was indeed the whole restaurant and had been laid out in such a way that most seats had a view of the landscape out of the expansive (and probably expensive) windows. The sun had been setting as they drove, and was almost faded from view, giving a soft, dim ambience to the place. Some of the lights went on, but not too many, so the mood wouldn't be ruined with harsh light.

And that is when he saw something he never would have expected to see.

It was preposterous. It was impossibly absurd, but there it was. The other guests, and the Maitre 'd had gone over to a window to look at it in disbelief.

"Is something wrong?" Sayoko asked, starting to turn around.

"No!" He said hurriedly, "Well, just something I remembered: I bumped into one of the machines in The Pit, and didn't wash the oil smudge off the back of my hand. I'll be just a moment."

Fortunately, the other patrons were being calm and quiet, so there was no uproar to get Sayoko's attention. All he had to do was call Sora and get Belldandy or Urd over here as soon as possible, and _they_ could take care of the whole situation.

He picked up his napkin, placed it on the table, excused himself again, and made a beeline for the restrooms. Hopefully, he could keep Sayoko from seeing that. He didn't want his date ruined because of _that _guy.

When he got there, he closed the door, nodded to the attendant, and went into one of the stalls.

"Hello," Sora said, "Hasegawa residence."

"Sora!" Keiichi whispered to keep from bothering the attendant, "Great! Thank Heaven someone's there!"

"Keiichi?" Sora asked, concern tinting her voice, "Is it you? I thought you were on a big date? Did she stiff you, make you pay and leave you stranded?"  
"What? Keiichi said, "No! It's great! But there's a problem! Is Bell at home? What about Urd?"

"They are both out," Sora replied, "What's the issue."

"I know this sounds insane, but," He took a deep breath, composing himself, "but it seems that Aoshima's car has blown up, with Aoshima inside of it."

-1-

"Unhand me, you brute!" Peorth protested as her beer-hat jostled form side-to-side, "I'm a paying customer!"

"You are also indecent." the man said, matter-of-factly. Peorth gave another tug to see if she could escape her captors, but both men held her firmly. She thought she should try to get free by being "friendly" with her captors. Her semi-deviant, drunken thought made her feel a bit warm, and she couldn't fan herself.

"Well, then," she cooed to the taller man who waved the alcohol fumes away from his face, "Would you like to do something after work? Maybe take in a beer at the bar?"

"No thank you, Ma'am," He answered, scrunching his nose, "Got a wife. She rather hates it when I'm late from work."

_Pussywhipped._ Peorth thought to herself. She turned to the other one expectantly.

"No thanks," The other said, still looking forward, "You're not my type."

"You play for the other team?" Peorth aked, surprised.

"No," He said tersely, "I don't go out with drunk woman of questionable virtues."

Peorth was affronted, but recovered quickly.

"_Monsieur_," she said, her voice dripping acid, "If you think _any_ woman is of virtue, you'd be sadly mistaken."

The man said nothing. He merely opened the door, and shoved her out into the parking lot.

"And don't come back!" The first man, the married one, said. The other man frowned and slammed the door.

"Well, I hope you two get caught having sexual relations with a goat!" She said, flipping them off with the two-fingered gesture popular in England. Gorgeous Rose appeared and imitated the gesture, taking a sip from her own beer hat as she did so.

Peorth was debating which would give her the better entrance back into the venue: Blow the door open with a gust of wind that made her outfit's dangly bits and her hair flip wildly in the wind liek a banshee, or just blowing it out with a fireball, walking over its charred remains in an epic cat walk of doom.

Just as she decided on the wind entrance and was going to start the spell, her cell phone rang.

"Love Goddess, First Class Peorth at your service!" She said in a singsong voice, "How may I help you?

"It's Freya," the other Goddess said, "It seems like Frigga's got a problem with one of her wishes, and since the wisher just came up in our lists, we thought we'd put him in your queue.

"Which wish granter?" Peorth asked, her drunken stupor fading as she willed it away, "It might help me know how to handle the situation better."

There was a pause before Freya said anything.

"Okay, give me a moment..." The Goddess on the other end said. Peorth heard the sounds of papers being flipped in the ear piece. Sometimes, she wondered how her superior could work without using a computer.

"Got it!" Freya exclaimed, "No. Wait: That's the budgeting report. Hold on."

More shuffling of papers. Peorth wanted to bang her head against the tarmac in frustration.

"Ah," Freya said, "I really have it this time. The Granter assigned to this case is Belldandy."

_Belldandy?_ The perfect, efficient Belldandy? How in Heaven's name did she screw up a wish? Maybe she had a bad day?

But then, Belldandy didn't have bad days. To her, every single day was perfect and right and...

Peorth grinned. She can now get vengeance on the self-righteous woman! This was going to be delicious when Belldandy had to admit that she screwed up, and had to be saved by Peorth.

"Great." Peorth said, smiling, "I'll get right on it tomorrow!"

"I'll send the paperwork to you tomorrow," Freya said, "Night."

"Thank you, Freya. Good night," Peorth replied and hit the "call end" button.

"Belldandy, huh?" She whispered. "Hmmm."

Peorth closed her cell phone and started humming happily as she started towards her temporary lodgings.. To show up Belldandy, her biggest rival at the agency competing with hers, was going to be glorious. Whomever the wisher was, she would be sure to give them the perfect wish, hand-crafted by the great Peorth.

And then she could rub Belldandy's face in it, like she did all those years ago.

Tomorrow couldn't come any sooner.

-2-

Omake

_This came from Davner as he was helping me work out issues I had with this chapter. It was so good, I had to put it here as an extra. - WillZ_

COMING THIS SPRING....

(Scene from Jurassic Park with people in a car in a parking lot looking at a puddle)

They grew him using DNA harvested from the past....

(Puddle starts to vibrate)

They thought they could control him....

(Little girl turns and sees Truckasaurus's windshield in the window)

They were wrong....

TRUCKASAURUS PART 5: THE WRECKONING

(Scene of Truckasaurus eating a dinosaur)

"This movie makes no sense," says Time Magazine....

(Scene of Truckasaurus making out with Scarlett Johansen)

"The guys who made this flick deserve a good ass-kicking," says Roger Ebert....

(Scene of Truckasaurus flying down the trench on the Death Star)

"Who are you? How did you get in my office?!" says USA Today....

TRUCKASAURUS!

This time... he's a f-BEEP!-ing truck!

(screen reads, in spinning letters) May 2010

"Lame!" Skuld said, flicking off the TV. She finished her ice cream, and put it near her operator's console, "But Truckasaurus is awesome! Maybe this time, they'll get it right."

She looked at her calendar, and sent in a time off request to Frigga, hoping that, with the bug issue on earth taken care of, she could watch a few movies while they were out in theatres.

"They better have Peter Cullen in it voicing Truckasaurus," She muttered, and hit the "Send" button, "Or it's going to suck big time."


	16. Events of the evening

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for the book's concept. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 16

Events of an Evening

"What?" Sora said aloud to the person on the other end of the phone call," How the hell did that happen? Terrorists? Disgruntled 'plaything?'" She had tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but thought she failed miserably.

"Actually," Keiichi replied, "It seems like a bug inflated the car as if it were a balloon."

"Ah," Sora said, sounding a bit disappointed, "So: No pyrotechnics?"

"Not this time," Keiichi said dryly, "But it seems that he's adrift somewhere near Nekomi's cultural district."

"And..?" Sora asked. There was a pause on the other end while Keiichi seemed to be trying to decipher what she meant.

"And we need to get him down before it causes problems?" He offered.

"Darn," Sora muttered to herself before returning her attention to Keiichi, "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks a bunch, Sora," Keiichi said, "Later."

She hung up the phone, and looked at the receiver a moment.

"Sucks to be him," she said, finally hanging it up, returning to her homework. She'd be sure to Tell Urd and Bell about Aoshima's predicament…

… Eventually.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Keiichi said, taking his place at the table once more. He glanced over at the other patrons who were still gazing out the window, even in the diminishing light at Aoshima's predicament. He couldn't see the balloon car anywhere, so in the short timeframe he had been gone, the wind had carried him further into the distance.

"Is something wrong?" Sayoko asked, about to turn around again.

"No!" he said, a bit quicker than he had wanted, "I thought I saw something, but it was just a bird going by the window."

"Ah," she replied, looking at him again, "So, does that mean I'm not as interesting as a bird?"

"What?" Keiichi said, "No - definitely not. I-"

"Well," Sayoko said, smiling flirtatiously at him, "I think the rest of the night, you should only look at me."

Keiichi felt his mouth go dry.

_Let me go!_ The angel protested. Her arms feebly tugged at Urd's hand, which was still around her throat.

_I need to get back to him now! Don't you understand at all? PLEASE LET ME GO!_

"No," Urd said, checking her grip once again before looking down the alley to make sure there were no passers-by, "I know what'll happen – I'll let go, you'll call me a sucker, and fade off, leaving me with no answers."

_I won't do that! Really!_ The angel said defensively.

"Neesan," Belldandy said, still eying her sister oddly, "Are you really-"

"Yes, Bell," Urd said through gritted teeth, "I am positive I am not talking to myself. I have not gone off my rocker, and yes, I am being perfectly calm and rational!"

The annoying thing was that she could understand what her sister was getting at; not everyone can see it. However, that didn't make the invisible non-existent. Look at the molecules of air or… Or light waves.

Wait…

"Bell," Urd said calmly, "Got your debugging glasses?"

"Yes," the younger sister replied, magicking them from thin air before putting them on.

"Would you try running a full spectrum scan?" Urd asked, "Even look at the thermal ranges. Tell me if you see anything at all."

"Neesan," Belldandy said, sounding unsure, "We've tried this before."

"I know," Urd said, feeling exasperated that she couldn't convey exactly what she was getting at, "But can you still humor me at least? Maybe the bleed-off magic form the anomaly might make something else show up."

Belldandy nodded before focusing her gaze at the area around Urd.

"What do you see?" Urd asked.

"It looks normal," Bell replied, "Everything is normal - Temperature, magical fields, ley lines: all of it is normal."

"_Normal?"_ _How your fatt ass is blockin' the scan?_ The angel asked sweetly, _That's not normal!_

"My ass is well-sculpted and perfect!" Urd hissed back. Belldandy didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation, thankfully.

_Sculpted out of what?_ The angel retorted_, Play Doh? And it _would_ be perfect if it wasn't so flabby._

Urd growled and wanted to retort, but she needed to get this done. "And the other hand?" Urd held up her other hand in a similar gesture to show any differences.

"The same," came the reply. Suddenly, Bell's eyes widened as if she had a revelation, "But wait. Hold up both hands next to each other. I'm going to refine the thermal image."

Urd Blinked. She hadn't thought of that. She was just hoping to use one as a comparison to the other and then have Bell do the same with her own hands, just to make sure the equipment was working right after the explosion of magical energy the other night.

The angel's clawing became more frantic. She howled at Urd to release her, but Urd paid it no mind. She felt the thing's fingers weakly trying to wriggle between Urd's own to break the viselike grip with no success. It was weeping so much that Urd could almost swear she had felt a tear on her hand.

"Got it!" Bell said happily, "The temperature of your right hand is warmer than that of your left by four degrees!" She squinted again, "Except the place just above where your thumb and forefinger touch. There is a small circle about one degree cooler.

_Shit! _The angel hissed, _Damn you! Let me go this instant!_

"She wants me to let her go," Urd said to her sister with a shrug.

_Oh, hey,_ the angel said, taking a look at Urd, _I don't remember that fat roll on ya. Have you been hitting the cheese puffs as much as the sake'?_

"Hush, you," Urd growled under her breath.

"Then let her go," Belldandy replied, Bringing Urd's attention back to her sister, "we know she's there now."

_I NEEED TO GET TO HIM!_ The angel pleaded, _KEIICHI! KEIICHI!_

"I can't do that," Urd sighed. "We need more information, and if we let her go, we'll never get it."

"She's not a Leprechaun," Bell scolded.

_Yeah! I ain't a Leprechaun!_ The angel agreed. _Just let me get back to Keiichi!_

"She's not talking, so she's not going," Urd said simply.

_Friggin' Narc!_ The angel hissed, _Like I would tell a tramp like you anything!_

Urd frowned and shook her hand vigorously. The angel cried out in frustration and fear.

"Oops," She said in a monotone.

_TRAMP BITCH!_ The angel cried, _Ever hear of the friggin' Geneva Convention?_

"Neesan," Belldandy said before Urd could come up with a reply, "I think we should let her go,"

"Why?" Urd said, "The minute I free her, it's over. Kaput. No answers to the bajillion or so questions we have."

"But this could be hurting Keiichi," Bell replied, "We don't know."

_She's right, tramp-bitch,_ the angel spat at Urd, _You don't want to have something happen to your "booyfrieend" would you?_

It was the self-righteous tone that made Urd want to throttle the angel. Surprisingly, she kept her cool.

"Besides," Belldandy said, "It's not like we wouldn't know where she was: All we'd have to do is go to Keiichi."

_Shit._ The angel said. Urd looked at the anxious angel and grinned evilly.

"We'll see you tomorrow, then," Urd said, her eyes practically glowing with anticipation, "and this 'tramp bitch' will have some questions for you."

The angel swallowed visibly, and Urd somehow refrained from laughing evilly at the poor thing. But maybe now that she'd applied the stick, the carrot will be more effective.

The thought made her pause. That was the exact sort of thing Hild would do, and she didn't like it one bit - even if, in this instance, the means did justify the end. Without another word, she let the angel go.

To her surprise, the angel didn't flip her off, or curse, or retaliate in any way. One minute, she was there and the next, she was taking off down the street as fast as her wings could carry her.

_I really should be nicer to her next time,_ Urd thought guiltily. She could try to justify it, but she knew that she only had herself to blame in the whole handling of the situation. She should have... No. She couldn't go back in time and keep from getting frustrated. She couldn't make the angel like her any more with a solid grip on it physically and magically. The best she could hope was that she could get it to talk to her and...

"Neesan," Bell said, touching her sister lightly on the arm, "is something wrong?"

"No," Urd sighed, "I just..." She sighed again.

"We'll work it out, Neesan," Bell said, giving a gentle push to Urd's shoulder. Unconsciously, she started to head back to the apartment, her sister following a few steps behind.

"Yeah," she said, _I hope so, _she added to herself.

Sora sat at the table, her head cradled in the palms of her hands. She was watching the time ticking by. So far, it had been two hours since Urd and Belldandy had disappeared, and an hour since Keiichi called about Aoshima. If the Aoshima issue had really been important, she knew Keiichi would have called back by now.

Or maybe he was getting "lucky" with his date? The thought annoyed her for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that Aoshima had been mentioned? It was most likely the case, since a person usually can't let go of a crush, no matter how much of a jerkwad they could be.

Still, she hoped that he'd just float off and not return again for some time.

She was thinking yet again about how a simple thing like Belldandy's arrival in her life had completely, totally changed her outlook on things. Because Bell had been able to put such a positive spin on everything - even getting evicted from the dorms - those same positive traits were influencing her, as well.

She felt a bit more confident in herself, something she hadn't ever been that she could remember. She also found herself smiling more when she woke up in the morning.

And yet, she was sulking because Belldandy wasn't around. She wasn't a lovestruck teen - Aoshima had harshly ripped that notion from her not too long ago.

She sighed, thinking about Aoshima for a minute. What had she liked about the bastard, anyway? Sure, he was good looking, and rich, but Sora had hoped that, with his love of cars, he might have had some interests that...

Sora sighed again. Was she really that bad at picking someone to love? She had been devastated when the wish had been granted, mostly because of her affection for the playboy, and that shamed her more than anything.

She had been so close to wishing for a life with Aoshima. She can't count how many times she had thanked the Almighty that she hadn't done that.

The Almighty. She already was thinking of God like Belldandy did.

Wait. If she was married to Belldandy, didn't that mean that she should be calling him "Father" instead? The thought made her feel dizzy.

The door banged open, causing Sora to start. Urd was there, scowling and making her way to the refrigerator. To her surprise, she didn't grab her usual bottle of sake' - instead, she grabbed a lemonade, popped the top, and chugged it.

"What's with her?" She said to Belldandy as she came through the door, "She sick or something?" The younger Goddess put her finger to her lips in a shushing motion.

"Piss off," Urd said, repeating the process with another lemonade, "I have to think. I'll be in my shop." With that, she ventured out to her shed, carrying the remaining six-pack with her.

"Now can you tell me what that was about?" Sora asked as Belldandy took a seat next to her.

The Goddess was silent, looking at her hands as if determining the best way to explain something to Sora. Sora felt her hands get sweaty as she anxiously waited for Bell to break bad news to her.

Suddenly, Bell nodded to herself, then looked into her eyes.

"What I am going to tell you," the Norn said, her eyes a mixture of emotions that Sora hadn't seen before, "Is something I can't quite fathom myself, but it all happened right after the spell we cast this afternoon..."

Urd wanted her sake bottle. _Really_ wanted it. She was so frustrated with herself for the whole ordeal, especially after she had realized that she was acting like her mother's daughter.

She just wanted to drown the whole memory in alcohol, and forget it all by the morning, so she could sleep with herself.

But she couldn't. She needed to think it through. There was something she was missing.

Dammit! What was it? It was like a word on the tip of her tongue, but instead of a word, it was an idea, and instead of her tongue, it was her mind. She was never good with making analogies, especially when she was as stressed as she was.

Think, Urd, she thought to herself, What is it that you're missing?

What were the facts? What is missing that she should know - that she should understand in the most basic level?

She pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes so she could recall the images a bit better than with her eyes picking up the "noise" of her current surroundings.

She relaxed, thinking of the differences she had seen between a Goddess's angel and Keiichi's angel.

If it really was his, that is.

But she hadn't lied to Urd. She was completely certain of it.

Focus! Look at the facts!

Okay, first, there was the appearance of the angel: She had wings. She was female, like every angel she had ever seen. She had long straight black hair and grey eyes. She was naked.

Okay. She was naked. No clouds covering her parts, nor clothing. Every angel she had ever seen before would always be covered as if to show their modesty and innocence. Keiichi's on the other hand was stripped from head to toe.

What was bothering her about this? There was something she was missing, but what?

"This is worse than debugging a system call," she sighed, muttering to herself. She gave up her meditation for a moment to open another can of lemonade.

"So that's it," Belldandy said, finishing her tale, looking expectantly at Sora.

"And..." Sora said, as if waiting for Belldandy to explain further.

"But isn't it exciting?" Belldandy said, a dreamy look in her eyes, "Because that means that Keiichi isn't that different from gods in some ways! I wonder if he's a demi-god..."

Sora was lost. That didn't seem to make any more sense than the story Bell just told her. Was she missing something?

"What?" She said lamely.

"No, he can't be one," Bell said, "Silly me. He would have power sigils, even if he were weak."

Sora didn't say anything. Belldandy was deep in thought, and even though she kind of "got it" she felt that her interrupting would completely derail the Goddess's train of thought. Maybe she-

"I got it!" Urd said as she slammed open the door and scared the daylights out of Sora. Couldn't the woman do simple things like open a door? Did it always have to be a dramatic entrance?

"What is it, Neesan," Belldandy asked. Sora was still recovering from the shock when Urd began to speak again.

"It's not really 'his' angel!" Urd explained, "Okay, it is, but it really isn't attached to him like our angels are. It's more like…" Urd shrugged.

"Wait," Sora said, looking at both Norns, "Did you say that you have angels?"

Urd looked at Sora intently, then edged right up to her. The Goddess scrunched her nose and looked all around Sora as if inspecting an engine for hairline cracks. The elder Goddess sniffed in annoyance and turned to look at her sister.

"Yes," Bell said slowly, "we do have angels. They are both spiritual and magical supports for Goddesses."

"I see," Sora said, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed under her breasts, "so why is it that you haven't said anything about it to me?"

Belldandy opened her mouth to speak, but after a silent pause, closed it. She looked thoughtful a moment before speaking again.

"You know," She said, blushing a little bit, "I honestly have no idea why."

Sora picked herself and the chair off the floor as she rubbed the back of her head with her other hand. Bell had gotten up out of her chair like a shot, and was checking the area where Sora's skull had contacted the floor, asking her if she was okay as she did so.

"Are you going to introduce her?" Urd asked her sister, who was still checking on the bump Sora could feel on the back of her head. A cool breeze-like sensation permeated the back of her scalp, and then everything felt normal.

"I guess I should," Belldandy said softly, "but..."

"But what?" Urd and Sora said at the same time, causing them to look at one another before focusing on the younger Norn.

"Well, you see," Bell said, looking at the forefingers she tapped together, "well, we're both… Sort of... Embarrassed."

"You know, Bell," her sister sighed, "that really sounds like the lead-in to a really bad porno."

This made the younger sister blush a deep crimson that seemed to cover her from crown to neck.

Sora had to admit to herself that Belldandy looked really cute blushing like that.

"Don't listen to her, Bell," Sora said, giving Urd a look. Urd replied by sticking out her tongue with one eye closed - a sign Urd usually used to indicate that someone was being a party-pooper. Sora ignored it and continued, "I'm sure that your angel is as nice and sweet as you are. Can I see it?"

Belldandy nodded. "Come forth, Holy Bell!" She said and broke out into a soft bit of vocalizing without real words.

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.

Until the other voice accompanied her, that is.

Suddenly, in the space behind Belldandy, a figure started to coalesce. The figure was female and just as beautiful as Belldandy or Urd were, if not more so in her own unique way.

She had long blonde hair that twirled around her face and over her shoulders; first over her left, then her right as she moved to match Belldandy's actions. In a moment, the angel arched her back slightly, and unfolded her wings, which seemed to span the entire length of the kitchen.

Sora lifted her glasses to wipe away tears that she just realized were there.

"Amazing," Sora said under her breath. And as suddenly as it began, the duet stopped.

"Sora," Belldandy said after a moment, "This is Holy Bell. Holy Bell, meet Sora Hasegawa, my wife."

"Nice to meet you," Sora said, offering her hand She still felt odd being called someone's wife, though.

Holy Bell made a sheepish wave and flushed a little bit, then looked questioningly at Belldandy.

"I don't think she'd be offended," Belldandy said, then turned to look at Sora, "She'd like to shake hands, but unfortunately, angels are intangible." Belldandy smiled and continued, "Holy Bell is also very happy to finally meet you." Holy Bell then politely bowed slightly at the waist, and Sora returned the gesture.

"Likewise," Sora said formally, "Please take care of me from now on."

The angel nodded slowly before fading away again.

"Now, that's over with" Urd said, getting businesslike, "What should we do now?"

"Things have been hectic, haven't they?" Belldandy replied, "Between the bugs and now this angel thing with Keiichi."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, "But I really have to ask: Is it really that big of a deal? That he has an angel, I mean."

"Of course!" Belldandy said, right as Urd said "Yes, it is!"

"Okay," Sora said, trying to get some perspective on things, "Why?"

The Goddesses looked at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"See," Urd said, finally taking a seat, "Goddesses always have angels once they can control enough power to summon one, which is usually a very young age. To us, they become more than just a friend. They become an extension of ourselves - a 'higher self' for simplified explanation."

Bell took it up from there, "We have need of their strengths, as they need us. The most powerful spells need sometimes more than one voice and will to work properly. The angels give us that added support, and we help sustain their existence, alongside our own."

"Like a symbiosis?" Sora asked. Bell and Urd nodded. Sora began to somewhat understand.

"And you think this has happened with Keiichi?" She asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Yes," Bell said, while Urd said "No." Both Goddesses looked at each other questioningly,

Bell was going to speak, but her sister interrupted, "I was thinking on it," Urd said, remembering the lemonade can in her hand and pointed to it, "and then it hit me: If his angel was a symbiont, wouldn't it not only have been impossible to remove her from his presence, but wouldn't the angel be missing its legs?"

"It had legs?" Belldandy said, frowning, "You didn't explain that to me, Neesan, so I was picturing a normal angel joined to a Goddess."

"Does it really make a difference that I forgot to mention it?" Urd said after taking a sip of her lemonade and shrugging.

"Yes," Belldandy scolded, "It does. Every angel ever recorded has had the same basic physique, and that meant no visible legs since they are attached to us. You said she was naked, as well?"

"Yeah," Urd replied. Sora wanted to ask questions, but she didn't want to interrupt the "experts" for her frivolous questions, so she just rested her chin on her hands, and listened. She might have questions enough for them when they were through.

"So, what's your idea?" Belldandy asked, frowning.

"Simple," Urd said, absently tossing the can into the recycling bin, "We have you talk to her."

"Me?" Belldandy parroted, "But I can't even see or hear her!"

"That's the beauty of it", Urd replied, "she can hear you and me; she just can't speak to you, so all she'd need me for is to provide a 'voice' for you two to communicate with."

Belldandy nodded. "Maybe I can get Holy Bell to help. She's always up for making new friends."

"That'd be great," Urd said, getting up from the table, "I'm going to the workshop for a bit."

"Before you go," Sora said, "I have a few questions."

"Okay," Urd said, sitting down again, "shoot."

"First off," Sora said, leaning back in her chair, "What makes you so positive it is Keiichi's angel?"

"It's hard to explain," Urd answered, "It wasn't what it said, but how it said it. I don't know other than it telling me so."

"And what if it wasn't?" Sora said. Urd looked horrified, as if she had been played.

"Crap," The elder Goddess said, pounding the table with her hand, crushing her lemonade can.

"Neesan," Bell said, touching her sister's hand, "You said that it only used one voice."

Urd blinked, then brightened up.

"Oh, yeah!" She exclaimed, "Angels can't lie well – they usually use a second voice only Gods or Goddesses hear! Good catch, Bell!"

"Well, with the thing being 'kosher'" Sora said, making the quote marks with her fingers, "Is it safe?"

"Of course it is!" Belldandy said, "Angels can't affect the real world!" Urd looked slightly uncomfortable, but nodded in agreement with Bell.

"Okay, then," Sora said, "So, when can we meet your angel, Urd?"

"What?" Urd said, blinking.

"When can we meet your angel?" Sora repeated.

"My, look at the time!" Urd said, looking at her watch-less wrist, "I need to get to the liquor store before they close! Bye!" And with that, she left before Sora could even put up a protest.

"What's with her?" Sora asked Bell. The Goddess merely sighed.

"It's something she's going to have to tell you, I'm afraid," Belldandy replied, looking at the door, "If she wants to, that is."

Great. More mysteries. When one gets cleared up, two more seem to take its place. It reminded Sora of the Legend of the Hydra: Cut of one head, and two more appear. She sighed despondently.

"Well, I hope she'll tell me soon," She muttered, "I don't like feeling left out of the loop."

Belldandy smiled, got up, and went over to Sora, wrapping her arms around her in a comforting hug.

"I'm sure she will," Bell said, "but for now, I think we need to wait on this one, okay?"

"Yeah," Sora answered. She relaxed and Belldandy broke the embrace with a kiss to the top of Sora's head.

"I'm heading to bed," The Goddess said, "I need to replenish all of the energy expended today. Will you be all right studying on your own?"

"I think so," Sora said, a yawn escaping from her mouth, "but I might not be too far behind you."

"Okay," Bell smiled. "'Night."

"'Night, Bell," Sora said, watching the Goddess close the sliding door behind her. She got out her books and debated which subject she should start working with.

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Keiichi asked, looking nervously at Sayoko. Dinner had been wonderful, and between the conversation and the food, he almost wished it hadn't ended.

But it had, and now here they were in the parking garage getting ready to head to...

"Why not?" She replied, shrugging, "I've heard of everyone else doing it, and it sounds like it might be fun."

"I don't know if it's really that exciting or not," Keiichi admitted, feeling flustered, "I was just kidding when I suggested it."

"So?" Sayoko asked, giving him an impish smirk that didn't do much for his nerves, "We can still give it a try: It's your date after all."

Keiichi thought about it, and realized that, at this time of night there really wasn't anything else they could do. And since Sayoko was offering...

"I might not be that good," He admitted. He felt his cheeks heat up as he continued, "It's my first time."

"Same here," the debutante replied, smiling, "We'll just take it nice and slow, and it'll all work out in the end."

The way she said it made him swallow nervously.

"It'll be our secret," Sayoko said conspiratorially, "and it isn't like we are hurting anyone in the process, is it?

"True," he said, "If you're up to it, let's give it a try."

Sayoko beamed at him, and he found himself wishing he could just stare all day at that smile. Sadly, the smile faded some as she started up the car and headed towards the exit.

"So," Sayoko asked as she approached the gate, "Do you know of any karaoke bars that are any good?"

Urd sat at her work table, resting her head on her arms. Why did Sora have to bring _that _up in the first place? She hadn't talked to anybody about it, ever since it happened - not even Bell, who knew all the details of it. Even now she felt ashamed at her actions, and wished there were some way to fix it.

But there wasn't. Not that she could see. The whole thing compounded upon itself, making her feel even worse about it each time she thought of it.

"Stupid Sora," Urd muttered to herself. She had wanted to work on some more love potions tonight, but she wasn't in the mood for it anymore.

With a sigh, she lifted her head and propped her chin with one hand, looking at the crushed lemonade can she still held. She must be feeling really distracted if she hadn't tossed it by now. She idly swished the can and, upon hearing there was still a bit of liquid in it, decided to finish it off.

What was she going to do? Between the anomaly, the bugs and now Keiichi, she felt at a total loss. Usually she'd go to work at Yggdrasil, put in a full day mostly surfing the web or debugging the occasional glitch in the system before heading home to watch TV and drink.

It wasn't that different here on Earth. Well, if you add in the fact that she didn't have to go into work each day, but she thought of that just as a positive thing; Urd didn't have to hear Frigga complain that she spent too much time on the internet instead of working. She got the work done, so why did her stepmother feel like she had to complain?

Whatever. She didn't have to go back yet, and she still could have fun, even with all of these annoyances popping up. Maybe she could use the excuse that, after going to see her sister, she was a diligent worker, and see? All of these issues were cleared up because of yours truly. She could almost picture the accolades of her fellow sysops in her mind's eye as she thought it.

Urd yawned. She wanted to go to bed, but knowing Sora, the girl would still be up studying. Maybe she should recharge her magic with a nice bottle of sake'?

Yeah, right. The same sake' that is in the apartment with an awake, nosy Sora studying for her classes? No thank you.

She rummaged through the secret pockets she had in her outfit and only found twenty cents. Damn. No going to the liquor store for her. Maybe the bar? Urd shuddered as she remembered the old man that had tried to pick her up last time she had tried to flirt booze from guys. The man was either too stupid or too shameless to remove his wedding ring! She decided that she was just going to pass altogether.

_I wonder how Keiichi's date is going,_ Urd wondered to herself, _I bet they've hit it off, and she's already offering to bring him into her place for a nightcap._ She looked at the clock and, if she were the one on that date, she sure would have been giving him a flirtatious wink and inviting smile and...

_I could just go over there, zap her into extra-crispy bits and..._ She stopped the thought: If anything, that would alienate him from her, and possibly scare him to the point he would avoid her.

Frustrated, she got up from the table, opened the door, and exited her shed. She needed to take a long walk in the cool night air.

Yes, that was _exactly_ what she needed.

Aoshima looked on in horror from his precarious seat. The balloon-car was incredibly high in the air, and he could feel the chill air seeping through the cracks in its makeshift doors. He didn't dare move, fearing that his immaculate shoes might somehow puncture the fragile-looking material.

And he was well over two thousand feet up.

He shivered and wrapped his jacket tighter around himself, wondering again how on earth something like this could happen to him. All he remembered was that he had been stopped at a light when there had suddenly been this odd "ploit" sound. Next thing he knew, the sound of the engine died, and his car started rising into the air.

He had tried the handle to the car, but it wouldn't open. The handle deformed in his hand, going from the clean chrome look it had, to a metallic balloon finish – seams and all. The steering wheel went next, then the pedals for the gas, clutch and finally the break. They even squeaked when he had gently pushed on them.

He had thought at the time he had been dreaming, but he had been disavowed of that after several pinched and slaps administered to his face.

This nightmare had suddenly "gotten real", to phrase the thugs he heard on the street.

"Oh, God," He said aloud, "Just get me down, and I promise to give a hundred dollars a week to charity."

The car hit an air current, causing it to turn and lurch in a very uncomfortable way.

"Okay! Okay!" He pleaded, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes "Two hundred, but that's my final offer!"

The car leveled out, and Aoshima opened his eyes…

Only to see he was now heading towards one of the smaller mountains near Nekomi. If he was lucky, he might be able to get close enough to jump out.

"YES!" he exclaimed. "There IS a God!"

Just as he thought he was going to be able to get out of this insanity, the car slowly started to drift parallel to the mountains.

"No," he said leaning futilely in the seat in hopes that he could change its direction, "Turn back! Turn back!"

The balloon car just drifted on, ignoring all of his pleas.

With a sigh, he decided to at least try to see if anything might still work on the car. Surprisingly, when he pushed the button for the radio, music could be heard. He turned the volume button, and the volume increased. He tried the heater next, and was rewarded with a gentle warm breeze taking away some of the chill he still felt.

Suddenly, the car started to jostle form side to side. Curious, Aoshima looked out the window, and saw nothing. Was it turbulence? If it was, hopefully it wouldn't cause too many problems for him.

A few seconds later, it repeated, this time followed by the cries of what seems to be a small kid. He closed his eyes and tried the door handle. The door opened silently and he was hit by a gust of cold wind.

"Help!" He heard from below him. He changed his position to see under the car. He saw a young kid wearing a uniform of some sort, holding onto what looked like a rope for dear life. The kid looked to be about forty feet below him. How on Earth was he still hanging on, and more importantly: Why hadn't he let go of the rope?

"Hey, mister," the kid called up, "Could you give me a hand? I don't know how long I can hold on."

Surprisingly, the kid seemed to be handling the situation really calmly. He was hanging onto a balloon that once used to be a Ferrari Testarossa, his hands looked to be turning blue, and yet, he wasn't in hysterics.

"Okay," Aoshima said to the kid, "Hold on. I'll see what I can do."

Keiichi sat outside of his dorm, taking in the cool night air. He had not had so much fun in quite some time. After a while it seemed less like a first date, and more like... He didn't know what, but it was much more fun than he had initially feared. Sayoko had surprised him on several occasions, but not more than when she sang her first song at the karaoke place.

Saying that she was a good singer was a complete understatement. He had somehow convinced her to sing several more songs before finally taking up the microphone himself.

To his surprise again, she didn't boo him off the microphone. At first he thought it had been to be polite, but she had even requested that he sing a song or two from a popular drama on television that he thankfully knew.

The night had been a blur after that - he couldn't remember half of the songs they had sung. The only thing he really remembered is that they went from sitting on practically opposite sides of the karaoke room to sitting next to each other, swinging in tune with the music as they sang a duet.

And now that the night was over, he wished it wasn't. He sat outside of the dorm in the brisk night air, the top button to his dress shirt undone. He looked up into the sky, just thinking about the good points of the night again.

But suddenly, he started remembering all the stupid things he had done. He thought of how he had made himself look like an idiot with such a lame excuse to go to the bathroom when Aoshima had drifted past the window. Keiichi also thought about how sloppily he had eaten afterwards, as well; he looked at his shirt, fearing he might have stained it.

_Stupid, Keiichi!_ He thought to himself, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands, _stupid, stupid, stupid!_

And the book! What kind of idiot gift was a book, anyway? Sayoko probably thought he was as much of an idiot, if not more of one after his failed attempt to ask her to go to the museum!

The previous mood broken, he got up, opened the door and went into the dorm.

Sayoko sat in her car, thinking about tonight's events. Keiichi had started off tense and rigid, but as he relaxed, the whole atmosphere changed. Thankfully, he was a smart guy and even seemed to have some culture to him, which showed in how well he enjoyed classes like World Literature.

He was also clever, as he had shown at the monster truck venue. True, he had been referencing something that had been used by someone else, but the fact that he had seen it from a simple look showed he could adapt.

She shook her head. Why was she measuring him like this? It was just a simple date! It wasn't as if he had expected much in the first place!

And that was _exactly_ the thing tickling at the back of her mind. Keiichi didn't seem to care about status. He had not once mentioned anything regarding her family, or the business, even with so many chances provided to him. He seemed to look at Sayoko in a completely different way than everyone else. Keiichi didn't see _Mishima_ Sayoko, heiress and debutante – he saw something else.

He saw _Sayoko_ Mishima, a woman that he thought was attractive.

The thought made her smile. Even her own family thought of her more as the heiress nowadays, as it became apparent that her father was going to pass on control of the company to her after she graduated.

And yet Keiichi, while knowing who she was, wanted to get to know _her_ better. Her father would probably not approve in the least.

She blinked. What was she thinking? It had only been one date, and one more as a gesture of appreciation than anything else!

And yet…

And yet, she had had fun. True, there were points when it was a little rough; Keiichi had looked tense enough to make a suspension bridge envious, but after the initial quiet during the drive, everything changed.

_He's such a nice guy, _Sayoko thought, _and if I could, I'd want to spend time with him, just like those other girls_. She felt annoyed at that, for some reason. Maybe it was just the fact that those two were completely gorgeous, and had been the talk of the campus lately. She also thought that at least one of them - if not both - had some feelings for him.

Sayoko looked at her white knuckles, and gently released the steering wheel from its death grip. She was over-thinking things. She should just relax, and take things as they came.

Like Keiichi did.

She shook her head slowly and sighed, annoyed with herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the book that he had given her.

Curious, she picked it up and felt the cover of it. It was soft with no signs of age, and the gilding on it flowed delicately. She couldn't read what the script said, but she'd be sure to find out, just so she could thank Keiichi properly for the gift.

She opened the book, and surprisingly, the first page she opened to was the beginning of a story.

_"The Disenchanted Princess," _Sayoko said aloud. Intrigued at the story's title, she began to read.

OMAKE!

This is another one brought to you by Davner, but I've kinda rewrote it, so…

COMING THIS SUMMER

(Cue a wide-angle shot of the City of Nekomi.)

This is a touching story of a man…

(Aoshima's voice) Can anyone hear me?

And his car.

(The cityscape slowly crawls to the right)

(Aoshima's voice again) Please! Anyone!  
A true classic about a man…

(The scenery is still panning)

And his destiny.

(Aoshima's voice) For the love of god!

Directed by the man who brought you Truckasaurus Lives again.

And written by Peter Jackson's agent.

(panning stops)

People always dreamed about going up…

But this summer… You'll be engrossed by the story of the man who wants to go…

(The screen flashed quickly to a top-view image of the car, lined up on a street, and pans to the side.)

DOWN.

Coming soon, to theatres near you.

(Image pulls back, to show the audience the image of a boy hanging from a rope, high above the city)

(kid's voice) Hey, Mister, I could sure use a hand…

(goes to black)

In June, it all goes DOWN.

(screen flashes back to the car at a distance, zooms in, and we see a pleading Aoshima on his knees, his hands clamped together in a plea)

(Aoshima) Please! I have money!

(kid, off-screen) I gotta go really, really bad, Mister!

(Aoshima, weeping) For the love of God, people!


	17. Send Me an Angel

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for the book and fixing some of the problems I was having with this chapter, and for letting me put in "Go Go Happy Panda", which is also his. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 17

Send Me an Angel

Sora sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. She didn't feel beautiful in the slightest, and yet, Belldandy had given her a glowing appraisal. Was this makeup really that effective? All she could see was that the few freckles she had were touched up to match the rest of her skin tone, and Bell didn't think she looked so "shiny".

Was she really that shiny in the first place? Now she had something else to worry about, each morning when going to classes. She looked at herself, and sighed yet again. Why couldn't she have had something more to work with. She cupped her breasts, trying to prop them up a bit in her nightie to make it look like she had something more than what she actually had.

She still wondered how Bell could think Sora would be able to compete in the Miss Nekomi competition.

With a frown, Sora gave up and turned away from the wretched mirror. It was bad enough that she still couldn't get used to her haircut, as short as it was, but with her boring brown eyes, she still couldn't see how Bell could see anything but the gawky tomboyish "wrench wench" that she was. Despondent, she exited the bathroom and trudged to the kitchen table, where the sisters were sitting.

"Morning!" Belldandy said to her, holding her tea cup next to her lips. She merely replied with a semi-passable smile and a wave before taking her seat.

"Ugh," Urd replied from the left of her sister, "I just want to get back to bed." With that, she put her head on one arm, and draped the other one over her head, as if encircling it that way would make her sleep quicker.

Sora could feel for her, in some ways; she couldn't sleep last night until an hour before dawn. She stifled a yawn, and looked at Bell.

"Do we have any coffee?" She said, the yawn winning the battle, "I think I need that more than tea right now."

"I'll make some," The younger Norn said. She put her tea down, got up out of her chair, and walked past Sora towards the oven. When she passed by Sora, she gently touched her shoulder, and Sora touched the top of the hand with her fingers in response.

Urd sat there, looking at her with a knowing smile before returning to her original position.

"What?" Sora said, frowning at the elder Goddess.

"Nothing," Came the muffled reply. The arm atop her head made a dismissive wave before resting atop her head.

"Cream and sugar?" Belldandy asked. Sora looked at her, and requested three sugars and the milk pot.

"I'll take a cup," Urd said, not looking up, "Black, with five sugars." Sora made a face at the combination. That much sugar and caffeine would give you a burst of energy, but you'd be feeling a lot worse in no time. She wasn't the only one to catch this.

"Neesan," Belldandy said, turning to her sister, "Sysop Soup is not going to help you wake up."

"It's either this, or sake'," Urd said, "and I really am not in the mood for booze."

"Okay," Sora said, completely deadpan, "Where's Urd, and what have you done with her?"

Urd merely made an unladylike gesture.

"Yup," Sora smirked, "You're still you." Urd made the gesture again.

Belldandy finished making the coffee, and placed it down near them, before taking her seat again. Sora thanked Bell for hers, and took a sip. Yum.

"So," she said after savoring some of the liquid energy, "what have you got planned while I am at classes today?"

"I'm going with you," Belldandy said, "I'll need to talk to Keiichi for a little bit."

Sora thumbed towards Urd, "She coming too?"

The younger goddess nodded, and Sora sighed. Last time Urd had come with them to Nekomi, she had seen Aoshima, and Sora and Bell had barely been able to restrain her from using a lightning bolt of wrath on the guy.

Aoshima. Something about him was niggling at the back of her mind. Without knowing what it was though... She shook her head. If it were really important, she'd have told Belldandy about it by now.

"Are you going to not fry anyone?" Sor a asdked Urd.

"I'm not making any promises," The elder Goddess said, causing Sora to sigh.

"It'll be okay," Belldandy said, putting her hand on Sora's, "we just need to talk to Keiichi for a little bit."

"Can I come along?" she asked, still curious about yesterday's revelation, "I might be able to help as well."

"Eh, what can it hurt?" Urd said noncommittally. Bell nodded.

"Yes," she said, "maybe if we show the angel we're not going to harm it, it'll be more likely to speak to us."

"Well, then," she said, "I'll go get ready, and then we'll see if we can meet him at lunch near the campus center."

"Sounds good," Belldandy said, tying her hair back as she rolled up her sleeves, "I'll make us breakfast."

Keiichi awoke to bedlam. That was the only word that really described - no defined the room he shared with Hoshi. There were model trees everywhere, as well as boxes haphazardly piled not even a foot from his head.

"What the hell's going on?" He said aloud, hoping Hoshi, who was most definitely in his "Roberto Mode", would answer the query. There was no answer, which could be good for the kid; the way Keiichi felt right now, he'd at least slug the guy and make him pick up the stuff, if not kick him out of the room outright.

He closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths before opening them again. The mess was still there, but at least now he felt composed enough to handle it. Maybe Hoshi was incredibly enthusiastic about what he was building? He could remember the time Keima reamed him out when he had completely gutted the carburetor to the Beemer on the kitchen table, so it might be something similar.

He folded up his futon without managing to topple any of the boxes strewn around it, and finished getting ready for the day. After he finished dressing, he went to the kitchen for a bite to eat.

Nobody was in the kitchen. There was always someone in the kitchen, unless they were doing calisthenics in the courtyard. Curious, he looked in the television room.

Everyone else was in the television room, quiet as mice as they watched the show. From what he could see, the show was one of the many lead-ups to the new season of Battlestar. He took a glance and it was Edward Olmos talking about how they were making new webisodes that would be airing within the next several months. Keiichi didn't bother them, and didn't need to know about something he had somewhat helped with, so he grabbed a quick sandwich, got his books, and headed out the door.

Thankfully, it was a nice day, and the sun helped to brighten his spirits up, after last night's dénouement of his date with Sayoko. Hopefully, the heiress would at least acknowledge him, if he waved a greeting to her.

_What was so bad about it?_ a female voice, rich and deep, sensual and sultry seemed to whisper into his ear, _You had fun, didn't you?_

Keiichi blinked and looked around. Nobody was there. What on Earth just happened?

_Hellooo,_ the voice said, causing him to start, are _you going to answer, or what?_

Great. Now he was hearing voices in his head. He bent down to pick up the books he had dropped

_Seriously,_ the voice said, you are not going bonkers_. I just wanted to know what it was about last night that was so bad._

Okay, he was most likely being pranked by the guys, but since nobody else was near him, it was unlikely. They might have heads for engines and mechanical things, but when it came to sophisticated electronics, they were completely at a loss.

_Tell me about it,_ the female said, sighing, _I think the only one of them that could handle programming the remote is Dai-chan, and that's after reading the manual twice, or hiring a kid to teach him how._

She had read his thoughts! Did this mean that, whomever it was was another Goddess, like Bell and Urd?

_Not... quite,_ She said, the sultriness of her voice dimmed, _I am actually an angel._

"But-" Keiichi started saying aloud, but stopped himself. She could talk to him in his mind, so maybe he should answer the same way.

_Good boy,_ the angel giggled, _you learn fast._ Keiichi ignored it.

'But,' he restated in his mind, 'how is it that I haven't heard you before this?'

_Search me,_ She said, _I just know that one minute, I'm thinking about... Stuff... and the next, I'm hearing a boy saying "I could feign illness, and use a surgeon's mask to bail from this date I _really_ want to go on."_

Keiichi swallowed, walking over to one of the nearby benches to sit down a moment.

_Yes, I have you pegged_, She said, all wishes, and no action. _Maybe if you'd do things more, you wouldn't be so wishy-washy._ He thought he heard her mutter something about a "friggin' Bard", but he couldn't be sure.

'What are you doing in my head?' he asked looking idly at one of his books to hide his distress.

_Don't know, _the voice said, sounding as if it were shrugging, _but if I find out, I'll be the first to tell you._

That answer was no help to him in the slightest.

'So,' he said carefully, 'who are you, really?'

_An angel. I told you that already._

'Helpful, aren't you?' He sighed.

_I try._ the angel said. _Hey, is this "Twenty Questions?" I love that game!_

Undaunted, he tried again.

'Do you have a name?'

_Of course!_

'Would you tell me what it is?' He tried.

_Keiichi, _the angel said, sounding condescending, _if things were that easy, then what fun would this be? I mean, do you really want to die after hearing my name?_

Keiichi swallowed nervously.

'I'll pass,' He asked, 'So, what do I call you, then?'

There was a pause, as if the angel was in thought.

_Ah! I got it!_ the angel said, _You can call me "Malaika!"_

'Wow,' Keiichi said, 'that's really pretty.'

_Thanks. it's Swahili._

'Really?' Keiichi asked, intrigued 'What does it mean?'

_It means "angel",_ she said, _I was thinking "Mabawa Moja" but it didn't flow off the tongue as nicely._

"How original," He said aloud in a deadpan voice without thinking about it.

_See?_ her voice said cheerfully_, I knew you'd like it._

'Okay,' Keiichi sighed, scrubbing a hand through his unkempt hair, 'I give.'

_Great. Now we can get down to business._

'Whatever,' he felt as defeated as he sounded.

_Aww, Don't be like that!_ "Malaika" said, _It'll be educational! _Fun_ and educational!_

Before he could agree or disagree, the angel began to tell him what she had in mind.

Sayoko awoke, the book she had been reading was closed and next to her on the bed. Somehow she had managed to leave the car, get changed into pajamas and climb into the bed. She had also vaguely remembered that she had fallen asleep right after she closed the book.

It was fine, though; she had really enjoyed the story. It had seemed so real to her and it was quite enjoyable, so more than likely her memory was fuzzy just because the story had been that engaging. She especially liked the ending, where the princess finally made her choice on whether she wanted to please her family, or be happy.

The story's end still made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, as she thought about it.

She turned in her bed to look at the time. It was a bit past ten o'clock, more than enough time to get to her classes, since the ones she had registered for this term were later in the day. It helped her to get some time in at Mishima Corporation if her father wanted her to help out until classes started. Today though, her father had known she would be out later than usual, so he had let her sleep.

Sayoko yawned, stretching out on the huge bed. She could skip classes today if she really wanted to, but that would set a precedent that she didn't want to start in the least. With another stretch, she got up from the bed and went to the kitchen to get something quick to eat.

As she stood with the door open, debating whether to have a parfait or a fruit salad, the phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was her aunt Aoshima calling.

"This is Sayoko," She said, "how can I help you, auntie?"

There was a pause on the phone, and Sayoko sighed. Hadn't the woman ever heard of Caller ID?

"Is Toshiyuki there?" Her aunt's worried voice said, "He didn't come home last night, and I can't reach his cell phone."

"I haven't seen him," She replied honestly, "but I will let him know you are worried about him if I see him."

"Thank you. I hadn't seen him come home last night, and after the way he had been hurt..."

Sayoko grimaced. Why did her aunt have to sour her mood like that?

"I'll let him know," she repeated, a little more tartly then she had wanted, I've got to go."

With that, she hung up before she said something about Aoshima that she would regret.

She just randomly grabbed one of the breakfast choices , and closed the door hard. She was still so disgusted with her cousin to ever forgive him. Sayoko opened the silverware drawer, grabbed a tablespoon, and closed that with force, as well. After she pulled out a chair at the table, she dropped into it and started eating.

After a few minutes, she calmed down and decided to see what the maid had brought in for the mail. To her surprise, one of her exes was on the cover of one of the local sports businessman magazines. She grimaced and pushed the magazine aside. What had she seen in the guy, anyway? He had been so full of himself, that he only thought of Sayoko as a status symbol instead of a girlfriend. Oddly, he hadn't been the worst. She had lasted a month with him before calling it quits, and had been glad she hadn't gotten too physical with their relation, but one guy that had asked her out, assumed she would put out on the first date. She had cut that short by leaving the jerk stranded in the middle of dinner after telling the Maitre' D to charge him for two additional bottles of their most expensive champagne.

She still had the bottles stored in her wine cellar, saved for a special occasion.

Oddly, though, that magazine had brought her back to thinking about Keiichi. True, it was unlikely that he would ever be popular or famous enough to ever be featured on the cover of a magazine, but there was something about him that Sayoko just couldn't put her finger on. She frowned at her bowl of fruit salad and picked at a cherry. What was it, really?

Bearing. That was it. He was the type of person who treated others like people, not stepping stones, or status symbols.

And his smile. She caught herself sighing, shook her head in annoyance, and continued to eat. She didn't know why it bothered her so much - she had actually had fun last night.

The whole thing reminded her of the story she had stayed up so late to read, where the Princess, disgusted with the formalities and fashions and pomp of royalty, just felt as if she didn't fit in.

Until she met the Mason's boy.

To Sayoko, Keiichi was similar to the apprentice mason; earnest, good natured, and always treated her as a person instead of a title. As with the boy in the story, the young man knew who she was, but that didn't seem to bother him in the least. She could almost hear Keiichi say "People is people, wherever you go," but hopefully with much better grammar.

She put her spoon to her mouth and stopped. Maybe the story did have something there. Just like with Keiichi last night when he said...

She didn't complete the thought. She merely finished off her breakfast, put the spoon and bowl in the sink, and made her way to the bathroom.

'So,' Keiichi thought carefully, 'It's as easy as that?'

_Yes._

'Really?'

_Argh._ Malaika said, sounding exasperated, _Yes. How many times do you want me to say it?_

She was right. He knew it, but there was just something about the whole thing that made him anxious. It was like everything he had seen and done last night had actually left a bad impression on Sayoko in his mind, and yet, the angel assured him that he had done everything right, including the book he had presented to the debutante.

So, why did he feel like he should just fly under her radar for the rest of his college life? You know, the online courses they just started offering meant-

_Stop it. Now._ Malaika scolded, interrupting his thoughts of fleeing, _You practically scored points on that date that could have gotten you a "cup of coffee" if you had been bold enough! But noooo! You had to be all noble and nice and then... _THEN_ you wonder why, when a girl likes you for those characteristics, _YOU GO NOWHERE WITH IT_!_

Oddly, he could picture the angel throwing up her hands in frustration, even if he couldn't follow her train of thought completely. He shrugged, as if it explained everything in the world.

_For such a smart guy,_ the angel muttered in a way to make sure Keiichi heard, _you really are a meathead._

'Okay,' he thought, adding as much annoyance as he could with it 'fine. I'll try it your way. If I get kicked in the junk or laughed at, I'm blaming you.'

_Oh, Honey,_ Malaika laughed, _you really, really have no idea. If this doesn't pan out you... No... Even better: I'll keep it as a surprise, instead. Yes, that'll be more fun when the dawning realization sets in._

'Gee, thanks,' he thought dryly.

_You're welcome,_ she replied contritely, _now: When are you thinking of doing the deed?_

'Do you really have to call it that?' he asked, covering the blush he knew he had on his face with a book.

_Yes. Yes I do_. Makes it more interesting than what I have been doing for... well.. That's neither here nor there. You're going to get some lovin' even if it kills you!

'That's what I am afraid of.'

_My, you're so predictable. Come on. Have I steered you wrong yet?_

'What do you mean "yet?"' he thought, 'This is my first time meeting you! I can't believe I am listening to you in the first place!'

_Ah,_ she said, that's _because you know I am right! It's all been common sense up to now, hasn't it?_

He didn't say anything.

_I'll take that as a "yes."_ Malaika retorted, _So, now all we have to do is find her and you repeat back everything I just told you to say to her. Got it? Good. I'll check on you in a while._

Keiichi gave up. It wasn't that she seemed bad; rather, it was her way of speaking. It was similar to someone he knew, and yet, not at the same time. It was maddening how she seemed to know what buttons to push to get him to go, and yet...

Somehow, during their conversation, the more she coached him about Sayoko, the better he felt about it. For the first time in what seemed forever, he wasn't screwing his chances up. The thought almost brought a smile to his face.

Suddenly, the bell rung. He looked over at the main tower and noticed that he had missed his German class again. Annoyed, he decided to go to the campus center and grab a cola before the next class began.

Before he took two steps, he remembered that he had left something at the Auto Club. Rummaging in his jacket pocket, he noticed he still had the handful of bolts he had ordered for the Beemer. Since he couldn't waste the limited spots at the dorm to fix it up, he had put it in the workshop at the club and worked on it piecemeal.

"I should bring these there before I forget about them again," he said to himself. He pocketed the bolts and made his way to the clubhouse.

"Well," Urd asked the couple sitting at the table in the campus center while she paced the floor, "where the hell is he?"

"Maybe he had to ask a question?" Belldandy offered.

"But it has already been an hour!" she complained, "I'm missing _Go Go Happy Panda_! They were going to finally tell who did it!"

"Did what?" Sora and Bell asked at the same time. Urd growled and started pacing again.

After a few minutes, She stopped to say the same thing again, but stopped when she saw someone entering the Campus Center.

To her disappointment, it was only a student carrying what looked to be newspapers.

"We could check his class," Sora offered. Belldandy nodded.

She was about to reply, when the student walked past her. She reached out and grabbed a paper, staring at the headlines.

"Morisato wins election in a landslide," She said aloud, "I thought he didn't want to run."

"We need to congratulate him," Belldandy said, "I think we should offer to have him over for supper."

"Good idea, Bell," Sora said, "But how can we do that if he's not around?"

"True," Belldandy said, sounding disappointed.

"Maybe this explains his lateness?" Sora offered, "I mean, he might have been forestalled by the teachers or the other elected members?"

Great. Now Urd would have to miss the rest of _Go Go Happy Panda_! Why didn't she just stay at home and not waste her time?

"I'm out." She stated, making a beeline for the door.

"Urd, wait," Belldandy said, "Can't you give him just a little longer?"

"Why?" Urd asked, turning and crossing her arms, "I don't think this is conducive to my daily _Go Go Happy Panda_ intake."

"But Neesan," Bell said, "we need to talk to her. I know you want to talk to her, too."

Urd sighed. She knew her sister was right, but at the same time, she didn't want to keep waiting. She was bored out of her skull, and the anxious, eager energy running through her for some reason amplified this. She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

"Okay," she said, "We'll give him some more time, but we're going to the liquor store on the way home."

"I'll see you guys in an hour," Sora said, getting up from her seat, "If I don't find you here, I'll head right home."

"Bye," Belldandy said, waving to her retreating wife.

Or was it her husband? Urd still couldn't figure out that dynamic of their relationship.

Whatever. She just hoped that Keiichi would show up soon.

_Go on. Do it._ Keiichi thought to himself. _What's the worst that could happen?_

A lot, actually. Sayoko could call in her personal Black Ops security force and he'd never be heard from again, all the while living in a bamboo cage with his legs continually broken to keep him from running as they fed him table scraps like a dog.

All of a sudden, anywhere else seemed better than standing near the doors leading to the Electronics classes' lecture halls. He knew she would be here after they had discussed their schedules so much the other night. Maybe it was a hint from her to come by?

No, they had just been having friendly dialogue with each other; nothing was meant by it at all.

Wasn't it?

He had to stop his thoughts from wandering so much. Keiichi gathered his thoughts, took a deep breath, exhaled and set off through the doors. As he was about to pass the first classroom, Sayoko came through the doorway.

There was something different about her today, that he couldn't put his finger on. She still had the same professional look, the same long black hair that went almost to her waist and same posture. What was it that seemed different?

He didn't get a chance to think about it too much; she looked at him and smiled, and everything just seemed to leak out of his brain into the pit of his stomach.

It really was stupid for him to be here. She would probably say something polite and move on and-

"Hi, Keiichi," Sayoko said, the warmth of her smile echoing in her words, "Fancy meeting you here."

He smiled, and barely kept himself from nervously touching the back of his head with a free hand.

"A-Actually," He admitted, "I came to see you. That is, if you don't mind."

"Oh?" She said pleasantly, "so shall we go somewhere to talk?"

"Sure," He said, still fighting the butterflies in his stomach. They left the building and started heading across the Quadrangle to the Math Building. Keiichi wanted to say something, but each time he wanted to open his mouth, the words would just evaporate. Thankfully, Sayoko kept the silence form stretching too long.

"The karaoke place was nice," she noted. To Keiichi, there was still something off. Could she have been possessed by a rogue bug? Was she ill?

"Yeah," he said lamely, "it was."

"The sofa was comfortable," Sayoko added.

"Yeah," he repeated, "It was."

What the hell was he doing? He had been talking all night to her normally and now...

Now, he was reverting back to the clueless dolt he had been when she first picked him up! Why couldn't he say anything? Was he just that stupid around women? Did he actually inherit Keima's gynophobia? He just wanted to escape, but if he did that, then what?

"Kei-" Sayoko began, but was cut off by him talking at nearly the same time.

"I would like," He said looking her in the eyes, "I would really like to go out with you again."

Sayoko looked at him with a slightly surprised look on her face. The expression changed quickly though, to the same smile she had greeted him with.

" To be honest, " she said, starting to walk towards the Quad again, "I was thinking of saying the exact same thing to you."

He stood there stunned for a moment, before following her. As he caught up to her, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to slow her pace down so they could walk alongside one another.

"So," Sayoko said absently, still focusing on where she was going, "What time would you like to pick me up at?"

"What?" He said lamely, "Ah, sorry, but I have a bike and..." He let the sentence die there.

"And what?" She asked, looking him in the eyes, her smile gone, but thankfully not a frown yet. She looked away again, but it made him feel like she meant that he thought that she didn't know how to ride on a bike. He continued, hoping that it would explain his hesitation.

"The bike's broken," Keiichi sighed, "I had to jump a curb at 40MPH when a runaway truck blew past me on the wrong side of the road. The whole chassis holding the sidecar had been wrecked, and it is still in pieces at the Auto Club."

"I see," Sayoko said, "I'll pick you up then. What time do you want me to pick you up?"

"What?" He asked, "Tonight?"

"Sure. " She answered, "Why not?"

His panicked mind could think of several million reasons, but thankfully, Malaika picked right then to show up, whispering a response to him.

"No reason," Keiichi said, "I just thought that we should dress more casually this time. How about a movie and something from the Mongolian place on 139th?" After saying the words, he thanked the angel for the save, to which she replied with a neutral "eh", as if it wasn't anything special.

"Sure thing," the heiress replied. She looked at him expectantly and once again, Malaika came to the rescue.

"Great," he repeated from Malaika's words, "I'll see you at seven, then?"

"Yes," Sayoko said before giving him a quick wave, "I'll see you then. Bye!"

'Thanks,' Keiichi thought as he waved to the debutante, who began walking to her next class, 'you saved me.'

_No biggie,_ the angel said, _but you're going to have to do a lot of this on your own if it's going to work._

'True.' he thought, stuffing his hand into his jacket. He felt the bag of bolts and instead of going to the Campus center or his next class, he'd go work on his bike a bit.

"Okay," Urd seethed, "He's not there. He isn't in his next class, and we just checked the Auto Club. Knowing this, can anyone tell me where the hell Keiichi disappeared to?"

"Maybe he is still at the dorm?" Sora answered, "It is the time of year for the flu to start making its rounds again."

"Oh, dear," Belldandy said, "Maybe we should bring him some soup?"

"No," Urd said through clenched teeth, "No soup. The guys in the dorm wouldn't let us in anyway: Remember their 'No Girls Allowed' rule?"

"I never liked that rule," Sora said, "it made me feel left out when they returned there after club meetings."

"But," Belldandy said, "There has to be some reason for the rule."

"I can't imagine what," Urd said, butting into the conversation, "Like any of the could get dates with the way they act. And don't tell me otherwise, Bell! I have seen Dan and Dai-chan attempt to pick up girls! It's almost as if they are too arrogant to realize they are intimidating the girls instead of talking them up!"

"Yeah," Sora laughed, "It's almost as if they learned everything about dating from Yakuza movies!"

Suddenly there was silence. All three women were thoughtful as they all came to the same conclusion.

"Yes," Urd said.

"That explains a lot," Belldandy said, holding her chin with her thumb and forefinger.

"Oh my god," Sora said, putting a hand on her forehead as the realization sank in, "Why didn't I see it before?"

_I coulda toldja that ages ago_, a new voice to the conversation said.

"Hey!" Urd exclaimed, "I think she's here!"

"Keiichi's angel?" Bell asked, "Where?"

_I'm not there,_ the angel said exasperated.

"You're not?" Urd asked, "Well, where are you?"

_With Keiichi._

"And where is he?" Urd said. Sora and Bell were still looking around idly as she spoke.

_With me._ The tone in the angel's voice was pure smarm turned up to eleven.

"Well, how can we talk to him if we can't see him?"

_You can't, and you won't. I've got him moving to places you aren't._

"Why, you..." Urd growled. Belldandy put a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Neesan," the younger Goddess said calmly, "We'll talk to him. Just be patient."

But she didn't want to be patient! She wanted to stay home and watch her damned shows! Not only had she missed _Go Go Happy Panda_, but she also was going to miss the climax to the lecherous love affair going on in _Triangle Emotions_!

_Aw, what a _shame_,_ the angel said, _maybe next time you'll think before you intimidate. Anyways: I'll leave you alone for now. Laters!_

Shit. Urd had the little brat communicating with her, and let her get away. What made it worse though, was that the angel practically gave her the finger before disappearing again. So, the angel knew she and the others were looking for Keiichi, huh? She was going to have to do her best to counter this intelligence.

But... How? How did she know what they were doing? Was she spying on them from a distance? It wasn't something that complex; after the way the angel reacted when separated from Keiichi, it was more simple than that.

"I'm Henry the Eighth, I am, I am," She started singing to herself a moment to get the tune, before putting it on "replay" in her mind.

"Neesan?" Belldandy said, looking concerned. Sora just sighed and shook her head, figuring it was just another oddity to add to the list she must have made for Urd.

"It's okay," Urd replied. "I think I know how it is that I am the only one able to talk to her."

"Okay, I'll bite," Sora said, crossing her arms over her chest, "How?"

Urd just smiled, and tapped her temple. Sora rolled her eyes, making a face as she uncrossed her arms, and stuffed her hands in her jacket's pockets.

"So I guess this means we're going home?" The girl asked.

"No," Urd said, grinning, "The game's afoot!" She posed dramatically to a seemingly random direction "Onward!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sora said, "Bell, I'll leave her to you, since I need to go to class." The younger, Norn nodded.

"And then there were two," Urd said, "Come on! I think I know where to find him!"

"I'm Henry the Eighth, I am, I am..." Keiichi suddenly sang, before shaking himself. Why on earth had that song popped into his head? It was a song he had only heard a few times here and there, so it really didn't stick in his head like some of the catchier tunes out there. He tried thinking of a song by one of his favorite idols, but each time he thought it, the other song plowed through.

He was heading back to the Auto Club after grabbing something from the local sandwich place, but now, he stood at the corner of the street, unsure of which way to go.

"Second verse, same as the first!" He sung softly before slapping his face with both hands. A song shouldn't be affecting him this much! He tried another tactic: Using some of those songs on the internet that people sent others to as jokes, hoping one of those would drown it out.

It didn't work. He tried "Banana Phone", the Pirate song, and even humming the "Leek Spin" song. Nothing had an effect on good old Henry the Eighth.

He gave up, and tried to think of other things as he did so. He really should go back to the Auto Club and get those bolts prepped...

But should he? He had a date tonight.

And he had absolutely nothing to wear but what he was already in, and that would definitely not do when trying to get someone's attention.

"Crap," He muttered aloud, "I need to get some clothes washed."

Spinning on his heels, he made haste to his dorm so he could find and wash the nicest casual clothes he had to wear.

_You won't find him,_ the angel said, sounding as if she were gloating, _Even with that ridiculous song, you still won't be able to keep me from being one step ahead._

Urd grit her teeth at the comment. The angel was just gloating, now that they had checked the usual places where Keiichi could be. They had found his tools laid out before his bike, and a pile of bolts placed next to the chassis of his bike, but no Keiichi. They had even checked the Student Government Association, to see if he had been held up by his new duties there.

Everywhere she and Sora and Belldandy checked had all turned up goose eggs.

_Where you going to check next?_ the angel asked innocently, _The bathrooms? Maybe break into the dorm and check the showers? I bet you'd like to see what he's packing under those jeans you always see him in, am I right?_

Urd didn't say anything. Even if there might be some truth to what the angel said...

_Ah-HA! _the angel accused, _I bet you think lecherous thoughts about him every chance you get!_

"Oh, come on!" Urd said aloud. There was nobody near her, so she didn't give a rat's ass who heard her "speaking to herself" like this, "It's like telling someone not to think of pink elephants! If you're told about it, it comes to mind!"

_I think you're wrong_, the angel said, _I didn't think of pink elephants._

"Then you're either a liar, or you've never seen an elephant in your life." In a fit of pique, Urd changed the song in her head to "Pink Elephants on Parade" from Disney's _Dumbo_. Granted she didn't like the movie much, but the song was great when you wanted something for everyone to sing on Drunk Karaoke Night.

_Ugh,_ the angel said in disgust, _could you at _least_ kill the soundtrack? It's making it hard to gloat... Er... Talk to you._

"Okay," Urd said, "Fine. You have five minutes."

_Generous,_ the dry tone said, _So does this mean I get an ice cream if I'm good?_

"You're not helping your case."

_Geez. Lighten up. Anyways: I was wondering something._

"What?" Urd asked, "And four minutes, now."

_I'm wondering how I know if I can trust you or not._

"What the hell does that mean?" Urd said, "I'm a goddess!"

_Well, if you're a Goddess, why the hell aren't you doing your job?_

"Hey now," Urd said defensively, "Just because Keiichi's seen me smashed doesn't mean-"

_I'm not talking about that,_ the angel said, _I'm talking about something else._

"Like what?" Urd asked, still feeling defensive, "If this is about me not going back to Heaven, I have a legit reason for it."

_I'm sure you do. But I don't believe it._

Urd grit her teeth and scowled, "Three minutes and a bit."

_Nevermind_, the angel said, _I'll just keep playing "hide and seek" with him until you stop being evasive. But for now, I'll give you a treat._

"Oh?" Urd asked, "What's that?"

_I'll give you my name._ The angel said. _Urd's breath caught._

"Your _real_ name?" She said, still feeling nonplused, "Knowing what that means?"

_Yes,_ the angel said simply, _because I am offering it not only as an act of faith, but as a test. See you don't screw this up like that last potion._

"I already said," Urd sighed, "that I didn't know the boy was allergic to eggs!"

_Whatever._ The angel said noncommittally, _and my name, for the record, is Mio._

"'Beautiful Cherry Blossom,' Right?" Urd said, translating the name from Japanese.

_No, Mio_ said pointedly, Mio. _Remember what I said. Laters._

And with that, she was gone. Somehow, Urd could now feel it when the angel - Mio - appeared in her thoughts. Maybe whatever it was between them had begun to strengthen? She hoped not; the last thing she needed was another angel, when she couldn't even summon her first.

Defeated (for the night, at least) Urd decided to head back to the apartment. Knowing Sora and Bell, the human would give up before the sun set, and Bell would follow her lead. Maybe she could make it home in time to catch the next broadcast of both her shows.

_Mio,_ Urd thought, _Such a simple, elegant, straightforward name._

She left the thought at that, deciding that she would look at it in more detail after her shows.

But first, she really needed to make it home quickly.

Urd turned off the main way, into a small intersecting street, and started looking for a television set she could use to head home.


	18. Perceptions

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for the book and helping me with some conundrums I was having with this chapter. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 18

Perceptions

"Way to go, Morisato!" One of the kids going past him said. He didn't have a chance to respond, as said person disappeared into the crowd.

"We were rooting for you!" a girl sitting on a stone wall said. Oddly, she looked like one of those girls that had wanted to take a picture with him.

Keiichi didn't respond again; the crowd had pulled him into the building in their rush to get to their lectures.

As the flow of people ebbed, he was taken past several people holding a "Congratulations, Morisato!" banner.

He honestly wanted to know what that was about.

"You beat the odds, man!" The student on the left exclaimed, "We're all proud of you!"

"Way to take victory in your hand, and make her yours!" the one on the right said. He gave Keiichi a "thumbs up." as he went by.

Then it dawned on him what the people were talking about, and he suddenly felt anxious.

They all thought he had somehow scored with Sayoko last night.

What was he going to do? He was sure that Sayoko would kill him if she found out about the rumor going around. But what should he do? Keiichi really wasn't looking forward to seeing her reaction in the least.

Malaika was no help, either; she had not talked to him since he left for his date last night, and he now wondered if she was just his imagination running wild. Nothing had made her appear, even calling for her as he walked in the park after the date. At the time, Keiichi had wanted to tell someone about the date, but he knew that if he had returned to the dorm, he would have to deal with Otaki and Tamiya trying to give him advice.

And their advice was anything but good.

So, instead of going back to the dorm, he spent a bit of time at the local bar, watching the replay of the Osaka Tigers holding an exhibition match against the Detroit Tigers from America, and downed a couple beers so he could stay and watch.

He yawned. Going to the Auto Club to take a quick nap had not been the best thing to do, either; he had planned on taking a nap on the sofa, but instead had done some work on the bike.

And his thoughts were drifting. He yawned again, debating if he should just go back to the dorm and get some real sleep.

"Way to go, Morisato!" A kid that looked familiar called to him. Keiichi realized he had partnered a few times in labs for Physics with that kid, and waved him over.

"It wasn't anything, really," Keiichi said, His hand going to the back of his head without him realizing it.

"What do you mean, man?" The kid asked. His name was on the tip of Keiichi's tongue, but in his state of mind, he was glad he had recognized the boy in the first place.

"It's just a rumor," Keiichi shrugged, "Nothing to really warrant any attention."

"A rumor?"

"Yeah," Keiichi replied, "I mean, Sure I asked Sayoko out, and she accepted, but-"

"You asked _the_ Sayoko out?" The kid exclaimed, causing several people to stare at them, "And she _accepted?_"

"Er," Keiichi fumbled, "Yeah. But really: It wasn't a big deal."

"First you win the election by a landslide," The boy said, "and now you're telling me that you got as date with the Ice Queen of Nekomi? And it's not a big deal in the least, to boot!"

They were drawing a crowd, making Keiichi very nervous, especially since several people were staring at him and whispering to one another.

"Look," Keiichi said as the guy opened his mouth to ask more questions, "I need to get to class. Later."

And with that, he made a hasty retreat to the only safe place for him on campus.

Urd rubbed her hands together in anticipation. She had an idea on where she went wrong with that last love potion, and now, armed with the right ingredients, was about to start anew.

"It'll work," she said to herself, almost like a mantra, "I know it will. I'll _make_ it work."

She had it all laid out perfectly, and as a side effect, it should take out that pesky allergy. Two birds, one potion.

Urd reached for her Bunsen burner and several beakers...

And completely lost the recipe she had been thinking of.

What was it again? Some sodium percarbonate and... No... Hydrogen peroxide? Nope. She banged her head on the table in frustration.

"Dammit!" She said, still thumping her head into the hard, flat surface, "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

After several minutes of trying to remember what it was, she gave up, and decided to take a walk to clear her thoughts. As she headed towards the city's center, she saw the couple she had involved in her potion catastrophe walking towards her, holding hands and making eyes at each other.

It made Urd sick. How dare he get the girl's attention without _her_ help! Disgusted, Urd went back to her "lab" and started putting her ingredients away. As she was sorting and stacking her wares, Belldandy knocked on the door and called to her.

"Any luck?" her younger sister asked.

"Nada." She replied as she put the nutmeg back in its jar, "Not a peep."

"That's a shame," Bell said with a sigh, "I was hoping to be able to talk to her soon."

"What about Sora?" Urd asked, "Did she have any luck finding Keiichi?"

"Yes, and no," her sister admitted, "She saw him on her way to class, but there were so many people between her and him, that when they cleared away, he wasn't there."

"How about the Auto Club?"

"Nothing there, either," Bell said, "I looked twice at random, as did Sora. He was nowhere to be found."

"How about the boy's dorm?"

"Nothing there, either. They said he'd not been there since late afternoon."

So once again, they had wasted another day looking for the boy. How long was the angel, Mio, going to keep this up for?

_Until you admit you were wrong_, Mio's voice whispered in her head, _or until I get bored. Either way: No Keiichi for you._

"She just told me I have to admit I am wrong," Urd said. Belldandy sighed again.

"Well, it looks like we'll never see him again," Bell said sadly.

"Hey!" Urd protested, "Whose side are you on?"

Bell didn't say anything. Instead, she just crossed her arms across her chest, and gave her the same look Frigga did when she knew Urd was trying to pull something.

She really hated that look. But what did you expect? Like mother, like daughter, as the saying went.

_Well,_ Mio said, sounding as if she were starting negotiations_, you going to give in? Because I can keep this up indefinitely, y'know._

Great. Mio sounded like her stepmother now! It made her grimace at the comparison; her stepmother was nice, until someone (usually Urd) did something to get under her skin.

"Okay," Urd said, throwing her hands up in frustration, "you win. You both win. I admit that I could have handled the situation a bit better, but what's done, is done."

She wanted to say more, but decided to leave it at that. She didn't want to seem petty or selfish or even condescending, for fear that what little progress they had made with the angel would disappear like steam escaping from the kettle. Belldandy smiled, unfolded her arms, and moved to set across the table from her.

_That's better,_ Mio said, _but I am afraid you can't meet up with Keiichi right now._

"She said," Urd repeated to her sister, "that Keiichi can't meet up with us now. What?"

_Sorry about that_, the angel said, sounding embarrassed, _but right now he's... busy. I don't know how else to explain it._

"Is he going to the toilet," Urd asked aloud, after telling Bell what the angel said, "Or is he having 'private time', if you know what I mean?" She ignored Bell's gasp and focused on the angel.

_What? Mio said,_ sounding aghast, _No! He's just... I don't know. Unresponsive. Like I can see where he is, but I can't tell what's going on in his mind at the moment, and I can't influence him to head over here._

It figured: Urd now had the chance to talk to Keiichi, and now she couldn't see him because of this "interference" Mio mentioned.

Yet, why did she need to go see Keiichi to talk to Mio, anyway? The angel was there, and she could just pose the questions to her now, right?

She could, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to see Keiichi. It wouldn't fix the fact that she hadn't seen him in over three days, and she missed him.

_Awww, ain't that sweet?_ Mio said dryly, _but I wonder: Would he still have an interest, now that he's been chatting up an heiress? I wonder._

"Is he with her now?" Urd said anxiously. Bell gave her a questioning look, but she waved her away, "Where is he? Is this the problem? Is he sleeping with that... That..." She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.

"Neesan?" Bell asked, "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Not now, Bell," Urd said, "Come on, Mio! Tell me!"

_Sheesh._ the angel sighed, _Don't get your panties in a bunch. I just can't talk to him right now, and I can say that he's in a public place without that woman there._

Without saying another word, she picked up her jacket, and made her way to the campus center as fast as she could.

Keiichi felt miserable. Several dozen people had walked past him, giving congratulations for something he didn't deserve.

He was just debating which one of the two he was least deserving of.

Some people wanted facts on the rumor of him going out with Sayoko, and others were wondering what he was going to do when he was inaugurated after Summer Break. He had told the gossipers that it was only one date and nothing really happened, other than he had a nice dinner, while telling the politicos that he wasn't even going to take the position.

For some reason, nobody believed him.

He looked down at his lunch, which was now cold. It was unusual for the food court to have something like Fettuccini Alfredo, and when it did, it was to be enjoyed. Hot.

Keiichi picked at the pieces of broccoli in dismay, wondering why it was his life had become so complicated.

_It's not that bad,_ Malaika said, _I mean, you have the girl, you have a chance to do something with your time at school, and your grades are good. Now all you have to worry about is your dorm-mates, and you'll be golden. _

It didn't feel that way to him. It was more like the simple college life he had wanted had now become this writhing, twisted monster with a life of its own. Annoyed, he popped the broccoli into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

The whole election thing could be easily fixed, but what really bothered him was Sayoko.

_Come on, Keiichi,_ Malaika said, _cheer up. You made great progress last night! She was smiling at you the whole time! Really!_

Then, why didn't it feel like it to him? He kept quiet and just munched on some more food.

_Hey, stop that!_ the angel said, _Seriously, you're doing good! Just be calm and think things through._

'I seem to remember someone saying to me to "charge right in, full speed, regardless of the consequences,"' he thought.

_Yeah,_ the angel said, making a throat-clearing sound, _during that type of thing, but there are times you have to think it through, too._

'Gee, thanks, Yoda,' he said, stabbing a piece of chicken with his fork.

_Anyway,_ Malaika continued, _I believe with the progress you've made, you'll be to the kissing stage in no time!_

Keiichi felt his face flush. He put down his fork so he wouldn't look like some stupid caricature, and picked up his soda bottle, taking a swig to hide his blush from any onlooker.

_And then,_ the angel said gleefully, _it'll only be a matter of time for the sexing!_

Keiichi put down the bottle, gagging on the drink in his mouth. Somehow he had managed not doing a spit take, and was paying for it. His throat burned from the liquid going down the wrong way. He coughed for a couple minutes straight before recovering.

'You did that on purpose,' he thought, putting as much venom as he could into the words.

_You bet your ass I did!_ Malaika said, her laugh sounding as rich as her voice in his head, _You needed to stop sulking, which you have done. Mission accomplished._

"I-"Keiichi started, and then stopped, his mouth wide open. He had been sulking like a little kid and the angel's timing had actually broken him from that funk. He put the drink down on the table and stared at his food for a moment.

'You know,' he said, 'you're right. It might be better if I don't think like that.'

_There you go! You'll be fine! No worries!_

'Not quite,' Keiichi thought, 'because I still have to see Sayoko after she hears the gossip. What should I do?'

_Oh, honey,_ the angel tsked, _that is _so_ simple. Just tell her the _truth.

He mulled it over in his mind for a few minutes, before nodding. So far, the angel hadn't steered him wrong, so why not?

_That's the spirit!_ Malaika said cheerfully, _Everything will be fine, in the long run. This is just a small pothole on the freeway of love!_

'Don't,' Keiichi sighed, 'Please.'

_What?_

'Analogies,' he offered, 'You're almost as bad at them as Urd is.'

_I don't know what you're talking about,_ the angel said innocently, _I thought that it was perfectly fine._

Keiichi winced, not bothering to press the point. He was going to start eating again, when he saw Urd enter the building.

"What a coincidence," Keiichi muttered to himself. He smiled as the Goddess stormed over, sat down, crossed her arms, and glared at him.

"Um," he said, smiling nervously, "Hi?"

"Well?" Urd said, adding a frown to her current look. Keiichi somehow kept from swallowing and retreating as if his life depended on it.

"Well what?" he answered.

"Well," Urd repeated, "where were you the past couple days?"

"I was out," he said defensively, "I had things that needed to be done."

"And?" she prompted. Why did women think that men could read their minds? Granted she was a Goddess, but even then...

"Urd," he said firmly, "How can I answer anything if you don't give me something to work with?"

To his surprise, Urd sighed, looking somewhat apologetic. She didn't verbally say it, though, but it was a start.

"You were out," she said flatly, "and yet, you didn't mention the 'who' you were out with."

He shrugged, which only seemed to make her angry. She reached over, grabbed hold of his shirt, and pulled him closer to her.

"You went out on a date," she hissed menacingly, "and you have the nerve to hide from me for days, and not even tell me all the gory details!"

"Urd," Keiichi said, "People are staring!"

"Let them!" She replied, but she did release him, to his relief, "I was expecting you to tell us how it went, and got nothing! Now, talk!"

So he told her about his date, telling her about the dinner and bits afterward, finally ending with Sayoko and him leaving the karaoke bar.

She sat there for a minute, her eyes gleaming. When nothing else was forthcoming, she blinked, her look going from expectant to curious.

"And?" Urd asked.

"And then she took me home?" He offered.

Urd sighed before glaring at him.

"That's it?" she said, "Really? No 'good night kiss' or offer for a 'cup of coffee?' Nothing?"

"No," He said, looking nervous. He thought about what she said, "That sounds familiar."

"Weak!" Urd exclaimed, "I can't believe how much of a waste that was! You could have... But you didn't... And now..." Urd threw up her hands in frustration, "You wasted a perfect opportunity, do you know that?"

And there it was: That sense of déjà vu was back.

"Where have I heard that from?" he unknowingly said aloud.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Urd said, "You're making no sense."

"Sorry," Keiichi replied, "I was just talking out loud."

It was right then that Malaika decided to show up again.

_Ah, _she said,_ I see your _other _girlfriend is here._

'What?' Keiichi thought, 'No! She's just an acquaintance!'

_That's what they always say,_ _hon!_ Malakia teased, _Look at you! You've grown up so quickly in the last few days!_

Keiichi decided to ignore the jab, and focus on Urd.

"Well," Urd said again, "You going to talk, or am I going to have to give you a potion?"

"No!" Keiichi said, putting up a hand, "No potions!" he sighed, "It was just a date. We went out, had a bit of fun, and that was it. Why does there have to be something more than that?"

Urd uncrossed her arms, leaning over the table while giving him her best scrutinizing glare.

"Are you saying that," she said, leaning even closer to him, "you didn't want for there to be something more?"

"Yes," he said, "I mean, for a first date, at least, I didn't, but…"

"Ah," the Goddess said, nodding to herself in satisfaction, "then the truth is that you _want_ something to happen on a _second_ date."

_She's got you there,_ Malaika said. Keiichi blushed but didn't say anything.

"Have you figured out how you're going to get a second date from her?"

_You have to tell her, hon,_ the angel said, _or it is very likely she'd burst._

But, after how someone else had reacted to the whole "asking Sayoko out thing," he really didn't want a repeat.

"I did ask her on a second date," Keiichi finally admitted.

"Awesome!" Urd said, "So, when are you going on it, you stud you?"

"Um, Yesterday?" he offered. Urd just stared at him a moment.

"No!" she said; the shock apparent in her voice and on her face, "I didn't think you had it in you!"

"I kinda had help," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Was it Bell or Sora?" she asked, before continuing on, "No. It wouldn't have been them: I was with them the last few days, and neither of them had a chance to-" She broke her train of thought to think, before continuing, "Unless Sora was using her classes as an excuse to go give you advice on the side."

"It wasn't Sora," Keiichi replied, "It was-"

_Don't!_ Malaika said, sounding frantic, _She won't believe you!_

"-a friend." he finished. He heard the angel sigh in relief.

_Good save._

"Anyone I know?" Urd asked, curious about Keiichi's new acquaintance.

"Not really." He was wondering how deeply she was going to interrogate him on this.

_Distract her with talk of something else,_ Malaika offered. He drew a blank, and decided to use the tried and true method of escaping these types of situation.

"Oh, dear," Keiichi said, looking at his watch, "it seems my lunch is over. I need to get to class, but I'll try to stop by your apartment on my way home. Catch you later." He got up, grabbed his books and tray, and made a hasty exit.

Urd watched Keiichi make his escape. She was half-tempted to chase after him for more details on his exploits into the unknown adventure known as love, but she decided to let it slide this time.

The thought of him having someone else to go to for love advice irked her – not just because it wasn't her giving said advice, but also because she had an inkling of who it might be, and this "person" never bothered to talk to her about it!

Hold on…

She had Keiichi right there in front of her, and she never even had a chance to ask him about Mio! She slapped herself on the forehead several times, calling herself four different flavors of stupid to emphasize each one.

Wasn't what she had gone there for in the first place? And yet, she somehow completely lost sight of that on her way to campus!

Well, what was done was done; she couldn't just catch up to him and give him the third degree after waiting so long. It would be bad form to grill him about his "love advisor" now.

Wait – wasn't his angel trying to keep Urd from grilling Keiichi in the first place? Maybe she was the reason he suddenly up and left! She could almost see Mio gloating in her mind's eye right now!

_What would I be gloating about?_ The angel's voice whispered, _Is there an "I told you so" involved with this?_

"No, there isn't." Urd said tartly.

_Too bad,_ Mio sighed.

"Why did you make him escape this time?" Urd asked, "I was only curious about his date."

_Escape?_ The angel asked_, I told you that I haven't been able to do anything. It's been rather unnerving when it happens, I hate to admit._

"You had nothing to do with it?"

_If I did, you'd know about it._

"If you are not helping him out," Urd thought aloud, "I wonder who is."

_Search me,_ Mio replied, _If I had an idea who it was, you better believe I'd put a stop to it. _I'm _supposed to be the one that helps him find his "true love!"_

Urd thought about it: If Mio's job was to lead him to his "true love" and there was this interference that the angel couldn't break past to do said job, then who or what was helping him?

"I think I have to make some calls," she said aloud, getting up from the bench and making her way back home to her workshop.

Sayoko exited her car, flung her sunglasses onto her passenger seat, and closed the door before heading to her class. The crisp air was not as bad as it had been, a true telltale that Spring was not too far away; her mood was light and pleasant, even though she had been up most of the night.

Sayoko had read another random story from the book Keiichi had given her, and had been surprised at how much she could relate to the protagonist. Unlike the story of the princess she read the night before, this was a story of a woman who wanted, through her own hands, to make something of her life. That wasn't want had captivated her about the story, though; it was how a lot of people flocked to her only when she had become rich.

They had seemed so superficial. To her, it fit completely with her image of all those "barnacle friends" she had acquired in her time at Nekomi. Did any of them like her for who she really was? That story ended somewhat sadly, but that was a good thing; the woman had shed a lot of them from her life, and felt better for doing so.

Sayoko thought about doing the same thing, especially after thinking about the story. When had any of these supposed "friends" ever contact her outside of school? Not often. How many times did they want something from her? Each and every time Sayoko picked up the phone, or answered her door. They never came to chat, or take her somewhere – she always had to be the one to take them somewhere they needed to go. It threatened to ruin the good mood she had had since waking up.

She thought of calming herself down by thinking of something else. Instantly, the events of last night came jumping back into her mind, causing a small smile to replace the frown. It was amazing how something so simple as a night talking and just being with someone could make the time fly so fast.

Keiichi had been a little tense at first, but before they had even gotten to their destination, they were back to talking and laughing as they had been on that first date.

That thought gave her pause; she was thinking of their first social engagement as… As what? It might have come about because of obligations needing to be filled, but something happened that she hadn't really expected.

Keiichi had happened.

There was something about this man that intrigued her, and she was still trying to puzzle it out. All the other boyfriends she had previously dated had been so similar, almost as if they were pressed out of cookie cutters or some sort of mold.

They had all been boring. Looking back, she could only remember only twice that she had gone out and had a really good time with any of them. Both times it had happened was when she went out with the first boy that had an interest in her.

That hadn't lasted long. They went out for a month before she discovered that the boy was actually a womanizer, and had thought of adding Sayoko to his list of prizes. It had hurt her to see him arm-in-arm with a woman twice his age as they came out of the restaurant she was just about to go into. He had tried to explain his actions, but even he had heard how pathetic he had sounded, and trailed off as she stood silently frowning at him in disapproval. Sayoko had simply turned around and had her chauffeur return back to the mansion.

Was Keiichi like this? Could he be playing her for a fool in much the same way? Did he see her as a trophy to be won? She doubted it, but still, something in the back of her head made her wonder.

As she was mulling about it, she caught sight of one of her barnacle friends. Hitomi Mitsuhara came over to her, her similar work skirt and blazer made Sayoko wince inwardly, since she knew the girl would say things like they were "soul sisters" and "very alike", all while looking at her with those idolizing eyes that reminded Sayoko of a puppy dog. Thankfully the girl's hair was much lighter and shorter, or Sayoko would have a slightly-shorter clone on campus.

"Sayoko!" Hitomi screamed, waving her over. Sayoko suppressed a sigh, put on her best smile, and went over to see what the girl wanted.

"Yes?" Sayoko asked, as she got in range enough to be heard without screaming, "What do you need?"

"You mean," The girl said, flicking her light brown hair back in astonishment, "You haven't heard?"

"Haven't heard what?" She said, unconsciously frowning and crossing her arms across her chest in a disdainful look. She smoothed out the frown to a neutral look, and consciously moved her hands to her side. The other girl had gulped, but she recovered quickly.

"There's a rumor going around," Hitomi said, almost conspiratorially, "that you have been sleeping with one of the knuckle-draggers from the Auto Club."

What? Why would she ever sleep with any of those goons?

And then it dawned on her: The girl had meant Keiichi.

The frown came back, causing the other girl to gulp nervously. Sayoko felt a small sharp pain in her palms, but ignored it after easing the pressure enough to keep her nails from breaking the skin. The other girl swallowed visibly again as Sayoko leaned in closer.

"So," Sayoko said, her voice making the chill air seem even colder, "you think that I should be worried about some gossip going around the rumor mill?" She swept her hand out to the quadrangle, arm splayed out to take in the campus. Hitomi flinched at the action, "So I should just hide myself away like some pathetic sop? And what if I _had_ slept with him? I don't think I need anyone's blessing!" Sayoko stared intently at the poor girl who seemed to be looking for the right thing to say

"I'm sorry," Hitomi said meekly, "I only wanted to let you know a rumor was going around." Sayoko just made a dismissive wave and turned, not bothering to see if the girl had responded or not.

So, someone was starting rumors already. Sayoko thought that, if she found whoever it was, she would make his or her life a living hell. It was always one of the biggest parts of the high-class parties she always hated, and always will, especially the few times she had found herself trapped into giving her opinion of something she really didn't care about.

Sayoko stalked toward the campus center, watching the people fleeing from her the minute they got close. As she approached the building, she saw Keiichi exit, heading towards her. He looked harried, and as he saw her, the look went to outright terror. Was her expression so scary? She didn't have time to think on it; she needed to do some damage control quickly.

"Come with me," she said, grabbing his arm before he could even greet her. She knew everyone around them was staring at her, but she was hoping that by taking him out of earshot but still in view of everyone, she could talk to him without adding more fuel to the fire.

"I guess you heard," Keiichi said as he was being dragged along by Sayoko.

"Yes," she said curtly. She was almost at the middle of the quadrangle, now.

He didn't say anything, causing Sayoko to look back at him.

He was still wearing the same outfit he had the previous night; a pair of khakis and a medium blue polo shirt, and his leather jacket that he didn't seem to go anywhere without. She could never tell if his hair was disheveled or not, but guessed on the disheveled side, since he was nervously running his free hand through it. Maybe when they halted, she could let him borrow a brush or a comb.

What was going through his mind? She wondered if he felt put-off because of this bit of gossip, or if this was going to turn out like the thing with Seishiro all over again. She hoped not; she had liked the young man and to be betrayed like that merely from something so stupid as...

She stopped right on the symbol of Nekomi that was in the direct center of the quadrangle and turned to look at him intently. She saw Keiichi start and gulp in visible nervousness. He looked as if he were going to put his hand on the back of his head, but he stopped barely an inch away from his side.

Sayoko crossed her arms across her chest, still frowning. to her surprise, Keiichi sketched a stiff, formal bow, looking at the ground as he spoke.

"I'm sorry," he said, "It's all my fault."

He began to explain everything to her, but she only partially listened. The rumors were already forming, were they? Well, she could easily refute them, but that would just make the gossip increase - for some reason denials tended to fuel the fires more than they should.

Just like with Seishiro. Why was that situation coming up in her mind so much, anyway?

Oh, yes. The magazine. Ever since she saw his damned image, the thought had been growing.

And now, she could see Keiichi telling her about how he had started this mess.

Just. Like. Seishiro.

Suddenly, Keiichi finished talking, and all she could do was stare at him. She really wanted to say something to him. Sayoko wanted to tear him to pieces, but instead, she just lowered her arms, clenched her hands into fists, and turned to walk away from him, ignoring his calls to get her attention.

She let it slide off her. Why should she get so concerned about it now? It was just a few times going out to dinner; nothing special in the grand scheme of things. With that done, she looked at her watch. Chemistry, or Mishima Corporation's R&D lab? Feeling the pointless lecture could wait, she decided to take a stop in at the lab.

Yes. The lab. She really didn't want to have to deal with the idiots here for a minute longer.

Sora sighed, looking at herself in the mirror with dismay. She was in her newly-purchased medium gray bikini, wondering for the umpteen-billionth time how she had ever been talked into something like the Miss Nekomi contest in the first place. She pinched her waist and wanted to cry; she thought she looked dumpy in the stupid swimwear. It wasn't that she looked fat, or even plump, but when she looked at herself in the mirror, all she could see was skinny legs and arms, and it seemed that the fat buildup was in all the wrong places. Why was it that she couldn't have a thinner waist and bigger breasts?

Sora cupped her breasts and gave them a small lift up. So a push-up wouldn't help there, but maybe she could ask Bell...

As if on cue, the Goddess opened the door, giving her an appraising look. Sora tried her best to keep the blush from forming by staying calm, but the mirror never lied.

"I like the color," Belldandy said. Sora saw her nod to herself in the mirror, "It brings out your eyes."

Her eyes? More like her play-dough features!

"I hate it," Sora replied, "It makes me look I was made of clay by a four-year old."

"Really?" Bell said, surprised, "I think it makes you look more like you were sculpted by Michelangelo."

"Smooth," Sora said dryly, adding a skeptical look at the Goddess, "I almost believe you, too."

"No, really," Belldandy replied, summoning an album from the ether with a blue glow, "I'll show you something."

The Goddess flipped through pages, staring intently at each page before moving onto the next. Finally, her eyes brightened, and she flipped the book around to show Sora a page with two images: One was the image of a woman in the image of what Sora knew to be the Sistine Chapel, the other was another image of a man sitting, which seemed to be part of the Chapel, as well.

"That man," Belldandy said, "was Michelangelo's wish."

"What?" Sora said, surprised. Belldandy continued, though.

"What I mean to say," Bell said, "Was that the man, though not religious, was virtuous in his passion and love for art. He was frustrated that he wasn't getting the right 'look' for several pieces, and wished he could find the perfect male body. I granted his wish for him."

Sora's brain took a moment to process this.

"So you are saying," Sora asked slowly, "that you knew a famous painter, at the top of his field over five hundred years ago?"

"Yes!" Belldandy said enthusiastically as she smiled at Sora, "And he also had several female models, to help him with some of the trickier postures in the piece." She blushed a moment before continuing, "When I first appeared, he had them all nude in the middle of his studio, posing them like puppets. The thinnest girl there, about your size and shape he doted over the most, stressing that she had to be perfectly placed to make the image work."

Sora's brain processed the information, and understood what the Norn was saying, but something about what she said tickled the back of her mind.

"Wait," Sora said slowly, "I thought that he didn't use models, so why would he use them? And how did you know who to even pick for his wish?"

"The first bit is easy to explain," Belldandy said, "The Pope had forbidden models in the chapel, so he had to use them in his studio when he could get there. The other," she sighed before continuing, "is much more complicated."

"Finding a model was complicated?" Sora asked.

"Well, not exactly," the Goddess admitted, "I had the perfect person, but since said person was a God, wishes don't work the way they would for humans. The God Anteros was perfect for the model, but he had issues with being naked in front of what he called a 'pervy old man.'"

"I see," Sora said, not really getting it fully.

"I finally convinced him that he would be furthering the arts if he posed," Bell sighed, "I don't think he ever forgave me when..." The Goddess blushed, and said no more. Sora decided that she'd leave it at that, but she did indeed mull over what Belldandy had said about the artist. If what Bell said was true, then she really shouldn't worry about how she looked.

Then she looked at her body again. Maybe it'd be enough if she just cut down on sweets for a little while...

"Thanks, Bell," Sora said, and Bell came over to her and gave her a hug. Sora hesitated at first, but then started to return it in full.

Maybe it wasn't that bad to have a wi-

The bathroom door slammed open, causing all thoughts to fly out the now opened door. Urd began stomping in, but stopped with a surprised look on her face.

"'Bout time," She muttered under her breath before putting her fists on her hips. Sora and Belldandy broke their embrace, and she could feel her face flushing over the implied message.

Sora was about to comment to the elder sister, when Belldandy gently put a hand on her shoulder. The Goddess shook her head slightly and turned to watch her older sister pace the small bathroom in long, quick strides.

"Who is it?" Urd said aloud, "It's gotta be someone we know, right?"

"Neesan?" Belldandy said inquisitively, but Urd merely ignored her, turning on her heel, and heading back out the door, slamming it behind her.

"What the heck was that all about?" Sora asked Bell. The Norn merely shrugged, a look of concern on her face.

"I've only seen her do this once before," Belldandy said, going towards the door, but Mother said she'd seen it several times."

"Really?" Sora said doubtfully, "After the stuff she's done here, it seems more like the norm."

"It's different," Bell said, still looking out the door the way her sister went, "completely."

"Well," Sora asked, "when was the last time she had done something like this?"

"About thirty, maybe forty years ago your time," the Norn replied, "Right about the time when she was taking an interest in Troubadour."

It didn't make any sense to Sora, so she gave up the questioning. She merely nodded, and started to change back into her clothing.

It had been several hours since his apology to Sayoko, and Keiichi still couldn't really decide how he felt. The debutante had not said anything to him, which seemed to make it even worse than if she had yelled at him. Hell, he probably would have accepted it if she slapped him and said she didn't want to see him again, but no response whatsoever?

He had been sitting at a bench on the quad, mulling it over. Everyone that saw him gave him a puzzled look, as if they couldn't understand it. They all knew he had won the election in a landslide. They just couldn't understand that he hadn't wanted the presidency. He didn't want notoriety.

Keiichi just wanted a normal, happy life.

He had no aspirations, other than his love of bikes and possibly love, so this whole election thing was a major monkey wrench in that. If he was forced to accept, then what would happen to his studies? He shuddered as he remembered how swamped and stressed his high school's Student Council members had been whenever it was time for any major test.

And what would Sayoko say? Or would have said? Keiichi was almost positive that she would have encouraged him to continue on, citing that it would have been a good learning experience, and that so-and so businessman (successful, of course) would have used it to forge a better future for himself.

But that was neither here, nor there; Sayoko was...

Yes. Exactly: Sayoko _was._ And it was all his fault, too. He had gotten his hopes up too high, and now, like Icarus, he was crashing to the ground.

He sighed and gave up on doing anything except going back to his dorm room.

Keiichi didn't really remember the walk back. He reached the main door with a mild start that he was already at his destination, and then fell back into torpor. He barely remembered the guys, his dorm mates screaming congratulations to him, and blowing those stupid horns with their stupid hats on One of them even had a vuvulzela .

He didn't want any of it. He visibly sighed when asked to make a speech, and walked off to his room, gently closing the door behind him. In the stunned silence of his dorm-mates, the door seemed to close in a loud, final thud.

Keiichi flopped down onto his rolled-up futon, but his elbows on his knees, and rested his eyes in the palms of his hands. In the morning, he was going to resign the post, telling the Dean that it had all been against his will, and to either put the runner-up in office, or rerun the elections, keeping his name completely out of it.

But those thought vanished as soon as he was through with them.

"Nice going, Morisato," Keiichi muttered to himself. His screw up with Sayoko was still raw to the touch, and yet, he couldn't help picking at it. Maybe if he apologized again, she'd be willing to listen? No, that wouldn't work. Flowers? Definitely not.

Malaika was silent through this, or so he thought; for a fleeting moment, he thought he could almost hear a woman's quiet sobbing, but when he lifted his head to concentrate, it faded yet again.

What did it matter, anyways? The advice she had been giving him had now become moot with the absence of Sayoko. What else would he be able to compare her to? True, he had only really gone out with her twice, but...

That's the thing - she was by and far completely, totally different from any person he ever knew.

And he knew Goddesses. There was just something "more" there. Like a part of her that filled a void he didn't even known had existed until recently.

It didn't help that this feeling seemed to be growing every day. Maybe it had to do with Sora's unusual predicament. Maybe seeing someone so similar to him in many ways in a relationship (even if it wasn't the type she was looking for) just emphasized how empty his life was.

Frustrated, Keiichi unrolled his futon, got dressed in his pajamas, and retreated under his covers to think.

OMAKE

You can't keep a good man down (so to speak), so once again, a trailer for this year's surprise hit...

Picture of a ballooned outline of a Ferrari Testarossa, drifting in the air, nearing the summit of Mt Fuji.

The car slowly comes towards the screen, and as it does so, a voice can be heard.

"An' giraffes, an' elephants, an' even polar bears!" the little boy's voiced fired off in rapid succession, "an' there was a guard, an' he had a club, because he ain't allowed to use guns on customers..."

"Look, kid, I-" a man's voice said, but was drowned out by the kid's voice starting again after he caught his breath "An' my mom says that if I wasn't going to behave, she'd give me over to the warden to put in the monkey cage! I like monkeys!"

The image switches to inside the car, and Aoshima putting his hand over the kid's mouth, "Is there a point to this story?" Aoshima asked through gritted teeth. The boy nods. "Great. What is it?"

Aoshima moves his hand away, and the boy looks up at him. The boy smiles.

"I gotta pee."

The screen changes, to read "COMING THIS SUMMER" in white letters on a black background. The letters inflate and float away in impressively cheesy CGI.

The words "Directed by" come up on the screen, and dissolve away, replaced with the words "Uwe Bohl" In white. Suddenly the sound of peeing can be heard, and the letters turn yellow in a liquidy way.

"Ah, that's better." The boy's voice says, sounding incredibly relieved (pun intended.)

"You're going to clean up that mess when we get ground-side." Aoshima's voice says in reply.

Next, cue a montage of quick action-y non-action clips set to hard operatic music, and stop at the same time the music does with a drum beat.

"Executive producer: Michael Bay" And this explodes.

Then the word "DOWN" looking like baloon characters floats down to the center of the screen, and pop.

"Ugh," Skuld said, grimacing, "That's going to be terrible."

"Yeah," one of her sysop friends replied, rewinding the video clip on YouTube, "but the guy in the glasses looks kinda cute. In a rich, sophisticated kind of way."

"Ugh," Skuld repeated, sticking her tongue out before continuing, "That guy's nasty! I wouldn't want to even be in the same room he is in, even if it were a million miles long, and he was on the opposite side!"

The other girl laughed "That'll change when you get older."

"No, it won't," Skuld said, sticking her tongue out again.

_But the Boy Scout was really cute,_ a part of her sighed. She shook her head, told herself to focus, and went back to trying to figure out where that anomalous collection of bugs had originated from in Yggdrasil's systems...


	19. Concerns

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for helping me with some conundrums I was having with this chapter, yet again. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. Hopefully it won't take me so long to update this fic for the next chapter. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 19

Concerns

It was a gorgeous day. The air was crisp, cool and clear, and made walking an absolute joy. It was too early for the birds to have migrated back to this locale, but even this silence had its own song: The wind hissed through the trees in a gentle susurration, the occasional hum of distant wheels on tarmac, coupled with the faint sounds of various motors gave this part of the world its own unique heartbeat.

Peorth smiled, her hands behind her back as she took it all in. She didn't think she could enjoy any part of the world as much as her usual stomping grounds, but this place grew on you. Was it the atmosphere? Maybe it was it's longitude and latitude. It _was_ possible that there were numerous ley lines around here distributing the magical forces of the planet, but it seemed too… "Normal."

"It's missing…" Peorth sighed aloud, stopped and thought a moment, crossing her arms under her breasts, "_Je ne sais quoi_. _Elle est mystérieuse_."

But instead of dwelling on it, she continued on, basking in the now of the whole thing. Peorth smiled, closed her eyes, and continued on.

After a while, she slowed, taking a piece of paper form under her shoulder pad, looking at the address printed there with curiosity. She had never been to such a place, so before granting this wish, she thought that maybe she could take a tour of the locale to get a feel for it.

She looked up from the paper, noting that she only had to climb the hill, and she would be at her destination. She wasn't in a hurry, but being so close, she decided to pick up the pace a fraction, so she could continue her day wandering around the city.

Gorgeous Rose stirred, sending a question to her.

_Non, _Peorth replied, _Not yet; we don't want to startle any of the mortals._ She eyed the nearly treacherous road for emphasis. Gorgeous Rose sulked, but even with her projecting a pout to Peorth, she underlied it with a sense that, if she were to come out, the mortals would indeed be distracted in a very problematic way.

_Soon, though,_ Peorth soothed, _Perhaps we could share tea with our client._

Placated, her angel settled back down into the back of her mind. With a nod of satisfaction, Peorth started again for her destination.

It wasn't much, now that she could see it; the building looked old, not from actual age, but from neglect. She could see the roof tiles crumbling in some places, missing in others, and the ones that still remained looked so faded as to most likely be the original ones put onto it.

Paorth couldn't believe that this was a Buddhist temple.

The landscape was worse – there was brown scrub brush everywhere, and the kudzu vines growing on the low, crumbling garden wall remnant looked as if they had given up the ghost at least a decade ago. She didn't see any location for a Zen garden, either, which made Gorgeous Rose transmit a sigh to her.

She had to agree: The place was a really sorry sight, to say the least.

Peorth approached tentatively, wishing that she could do something for the place, but she did have to work, and the fact that the place was indeed so ramshackle probably was indeed the reason for the granting of this wish. Maybe the monk needed to be uplifted in spirit? It was possible, with the fight for earthly stocks ever raging in the higher realms. But, if that was so: why a wish now, and not earlier? Could the monk have decided that the trappings of the mortal coil were not as pure as those as spirit, and thus had neglected the lace not to be lazy, but to concentrate his energies on this personal quest?

That had a nice spin on it. Peorth decided to go with that so she could reward the poor monk further with a demonstration of her powers as an excuse to tidy the place up a bit. She stepped up to the door and knocked.

The door opened quickly, causing Peorth to start. In the doorway was a large, burly Buddhist brandishing a big branch.

"Begone, foul creature!" he shouted as he swung the branch downward to her head.

Sora Hasegawa stared at the sisters at her table. Both were silent and contemplative; the elder had her fingers laced under her lower lip, and the younger was leaning back slightly, her arms crossed. Sora looked from one to another wondering why this seemed as engrossing as a tennis match. She didn't even like tennis in the first place! She didn't dare speak; they needed to think and, since Sora knew jack about angels or gods, she felt anything she could add would just be disruptive instead of helpful.

"You know," Urd said finally, "We could see if we can contact Sora's angel."

"What?" Sora said, startled, "My angel?"

"Yeah," Urd said, "We could learn more if we had another one to talk to."

Sora gulped visibly. Trying something like this usually meant that some kind of potion would be involved.

She had seen the results too often, which made her even more nervous than she probably should be.

"It'll be fine," Urd said, "If we can try to figure out how-"

"No," The answer was soft, yet it had cut Urd of quickly. Sora turned to look at Bell.

"Come on, Sis," Urd said, "It's been three days since we heard a peep from Keiichi."

Belldandy just sighed and shook her head, still looking deep in thought.

"But Bell," Urd said, "What if their angels network? Maybe they have an angel FaceBook or something."

Angel FaceBook. Not everything was a social network, even in Japan. Sometimes, Sora thought, a person just wanted to be alone to gather their wits about them.

"Sorry, Neesan," Belldandy said, "but we can't just barge in on his personal life."

Urd threw up her hands, and paced the room. Sora could feel for the Goddess somewhat, especially now that she knew the elder Goddess had a thing for her _senpai._

If her muttering in her sleep was any indication, Urd wanted to have pounced on Keiichi as soon as she had heard about the heiress walking away from him.

The troubling part was that she didn't know if she should feel more sympathy for Keiichi or for Urd. She fidgeted in her seat, deciding that she would just keep her opinion out of the discussion.

What else was she to do? From the sound of it, both Urd and Belldandy were magnitudes older than she was, and they also had expertise in their field. She only knew how to disassemble and reassemble cars, so unless said discussion turned to her needing to give Keiichi an oil change, it looked like she wasn't going to be contributing any time soon.

As an off-hand thought, she did wonder if Belldandy had picked up on her sister's attraction to Keiichi.

"What's so funny?" Urd asked Sora. Belldandy looked at her, and she flushed.

"Er.." _Think fast,_ "I was just thinking how funny it would be if Keiichi needed an oil change?"

Both sisters stared at her for a minute. Okay, so it hadn't been a stellar reply. She couldn't take it back now.

Both Goddesses smiled at least. It wasn't much, but she would take anything right now to prevent this whole thing going back to the "silent tennis match."

Or to talk of her angel, if she even had one: She really didn't want to go down that road any time soon.

Fortunately, Belldandy seemed to have picked up on Sora's feelings: She rose from the table and offered to make some supper.

Annoyed, Urd got up and left before Belldandy could even say a word. The woman was acting odd lately, and she wondered if it was all because of Keiichi, or if something else bothered her. Sora sighed, deciding that, she wouldn't ask, and hope that maybe Urd would either fix whatever was bothering her.

"Need a hand?" She offered to Bell, turning in her seat to look at the Goddess. True, Sora was terrible at cooking, but she could at least help peel, or fetch ingredients.

"Sure," Bell replied, smiling. Sora returned the smile, got up, and went to get her apron from its peg.

"I'm really sorry about that," The balding monk said to Peorth, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "I saw your silhouette through the door, and thought…"

"It's okay," Peorth said, holding the tea cup the man had given her in both hands. The tea had a sweetish, minty scent to it as she lifted it to her lips, which seemed to calm her nerves somewhat.

The monk had almost hit her with the stick, but somehow had managed to avoid it at the last moment. She had closed her eyes and put her arms up and, when she opened them, he was prostrated on the ground, begging forgivness.

"It's fine. Its fine," She said, making a dismissive wave with her hand, "Water under the bridge as far as I am concerned." It didn't help that she had nearly wet herself in terror, but she didn't want to say that to the poor man – he felt bad enough as it is, and a proper lady never spoke of such things, anyway.

The monk didn't see it that way: Once again he prostrated himself in as low of a bow as his wide girth would allow. Peorth stifled a sigh and continued to smile warmly at him, all while she wanted to summon a bolt of lightning that might shock some sense into him.

"I am SO sorry!" he repeated, "Name my penance, and I shall carry it out hencewith!"

"Henceforth," Peorth sad absently, "and that's still not the right word." She took a sip of tea, letting the monk, who hadn't heard her in the least blubber about his frailty and weaknesses in faith until he finally ran down. Rose was still hyperventilating from the whole scene. Peorth wanted to, as well, but she did have to show composure and decorum when dealing with a client, so the most she could allow at the moment was a rapid heartbeat. When her business here was squared away, she was going back to Heaven as soon as possible and hide in her room to cry for an hour or twenty.

Fortunately, his begging and her nerves finally did calm down after a few moments, and she decided to get right down to business. She had to approach this delicately, especially now that she knew what type of man he was. He seemed like the type that, if it wasn't approached carefully, he'd do something stupid with his wish like wishing for enlightenment.

It was usually frowned on for people to wish for it, almost as much as someone wishing for more wishes, mainly because the whole point to a spiritual act like that is the _journey,_ rather than the actual act itself.

She decided not to waste any more time; she put down her now-empty cup and placed her hands on her lap.

"So," She began, "The reason why I am here today is a matter of importance, Mister Morisato."

The man looked at her, perplexed.

"Excuse me," he said, "but did you say 'Mister Morisato?'"

"Yes," Peorth nodded, "I'm here to grant you your heart's desire."

The man flushed, covering his eyes. He was starting to sweat. Peorth was about to ask if he was all right when he finally began panicking in earnest.

"Ah!" He cried "No! I am not that type of person!" What type of person could he mean? She opened her mouth again, but he kept on, "I have taken vows of celibacy! I surely couldn't…"

He faltered, and Peorth caught on. She blushed, not only for the implication, but because of how the dirty old man's mind worked. Maybe she should call down a bolt of-

"And my name isn't Morisato." He said, his hands still covering his eyes. She did notice the monk did have one eye peeking between two fingers. Peorth could almost see what was going through his mind, so she frowned at him.

"You're not Keiichi Morisato?" She asked, startled. Maybe if she had done the smart thing and had her mind focused on his thoughts, she could have saved herself all of this embarrassment!

"No. Sorry." His face was sincere, and there had been something flattering about the way he peeped through his fingers at her that endeared him to Peorth.

Peorth bit her lower lip in thought. What would she do now? The address was wrong, and her current client was not going to be easy to find. The priest looked up, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"You know," the monk said slowly, "I could help you find this man, if you wanted me to."

Peorth stared at the man. It just might work. She could have him as a contact here to find her true client, while she took care of her other clients. Peorth smiled warmly at the man.

"Yes," she said, still smiling at the monk, "that could work."

Urd sat down at her table, fuming. She didn't like how her sister basically blocked her from checking up on Keiichi, and she hated the fact that Belldandy might actually be right even more.

She wanted to see him. Especially after his fiasco with that rich bitch Sayoko he had been so infatuated with. The poor boy needed some comforting and encouragement and, as his personal, self-appointed matchmaker, she should have access to him at any time, any place, as long as there was need.

And right now, there was indeed a need – he was probably so heartbroken that he wouldn't even leave his room. What would happen if he was so distraught over it, that he left college? That wouldn't do in the least!

She wasn't going to get anywhere with this line of thinking, so she decided to at least make herself useful by coming up with something to humiliate that tramp, thus serving Urd's need for vengeance on Keiichi's behalf.

Urd pulled down several vials, a book of potions she had indefinitely borrowed from a friend of hers in Heaven, and started flipping pages until she got the one she wanted.

"Yes," she said aloud to herself, grinning madly at the entry, "This will do nicely." This potion shouldn't take too long to do, either. Fifteen minutes, maybe a half hour if she wanted to increase its potency, but that's about it.

"So, I wonder if I should turn her yellow or blue," Urd said aloud. The mixture would do more, like making the debutante itch all over for a full day, but the color was the true genius of the spell – everyone but the person it was used on would see the color, while any victims looked normal to themselves.

With a though about Smurfs making the Goddess giggle, she decided on a bright, almost neon blue, and started pouring the ingredients for the pigment into a bowl. With care, she started to mix the contents counter-clockwise in slow, small circles while chanting the color-creation part of the spell. As she mixed all the powders together, they slowly vibrated. As she reached the halfway point of the bowl again, they all suddenly liquefied into a bluish oil.

She had almost made it to the portion of the bowl where she started from, when a loud bang outside from a backfiring muffler startled her. Her reaction pulled the spoon to the center of the bowl.

"Ah, crap," She muttered, as the viscous liquid turned a deeper blue. Before she could duck for cover, the mixture swelled up and popped, covering the front of her in a layer of blue.

"Shit!" Urd yelled, emphasizing her frustration with both her ruined outfit and the botched potion. She repeated the expletive again, making as if she were going to throw the bowl through the wall. Fortunately, she came to her senses, put the bowl down, and began wiping her face with a shop rag she had pilfered from the Auto Club.

She cleaned up the dye from her face, looking in a mirror to see if any of it actually stained her skin and hair. Fortunately, she must have botched the job before the full effect of it could fully affect skin, but her clothing was a horrid mess. She tried dabbing it, and even used magic on the stains on her shirt and pants, and found that both could not be saved, no matter what she did.

It was a shame; she really loved the print on that shirt.

With an annoyed grunt, she pulled her top and bottoms off. As she looked, she could see that the stain had seeped into her undergarments as well. With a frustrated snarl, she practically ripped off her bra and panties, and tossed them into the furnace with the other ruined clothing. Thankfully, she had a spare outfit stashed away just in case something "unfortunate" happened, so after she lit her ruined clothing on fire, she would change into the spare outfit she stored in the foot locker she all but stole from the landlord.

Now, if she could only find a match…

Sora quietly closed the door behind her, hoping that Belldandy didn't hear her leave. She needed to talk to someone with a bit more of a pragmatic outlook on things. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of this before, but then again, Urd was eccentric in her own way. Maybe all deities were really like this? After some of the odd stories Sora had read and from what she'd seen, it wasn't as much of a surprise after thinking about it a moment.

She needed answers. Not just any answers, but honest answers. That wasn't right, either; Bell was incapable of lying, but what she saw was too subjective. Sora needed the honest opinion of someone that didn't always look through rose-colored glasses, and wouldn't lie or gloss over things to keep her feelings being hurt.

Urd was perfect for that. She was friendly enough to Sora, and even though they both rubbed each other wrong at points, it wasn't bad enough for either of them to declare _jihad_ against one another, and they always found middle ground to compromise on, so Urd should be the ideal person to go to for this.

She hoped. Sora was still afraid that somehow, she was being set up for something embarrassing, and the thought was just too hard to break free from. Like the whole fish taco incident. She still didn't know how the hell that fish taco picture got out to the paper in the first place! Sora felt a blush burn her cheeks as she tried to expunge that incident from her mind.

Sora stopped at the door and took a deep breath. Would Urd really help her with her concerns, or would the Goddess just make fun of her? She wouldn't know unless she tried.

"Hey, Urd," Sora said as she opened the door, Could I get your opinion on-_gah!_"

Sora hadn't been looking for Urd when she went through the door – she knew better after Urd had told her about escaping ingredients, so she hadn't expected to look up at the place Urd sat…

…And see Urd's naked Posterior (capitalization needed, for it was indeed its own entity) all but staring at her.

Sora's face was on fire now. She had been expecting to have a conversation with a nice, sane person, and instead she gets to look at Urd in a new way.

Sora tried to keep the song "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" from starting in her mind, but failed as the chorus started to play on repeat. After what seemed like an eternity, Urd looked around her Posterior and waved Sora over.

"Can you lend me a hand?" Urd asked, "I seem to have gotten myself stuck."

Sora realized that her mouth was open, and shut it quickly. How the Goddess got into such a predicament, she really didn't want to know.

"Or you can stand there and ogle my ass," Urd continued, jerking a bit, which caused her boobs and butt to sway and jiggle. "You're not quite my type, but you never know," Urd added with an evil wink. Sora couldn't believe that she could get any redder, but it felt as if her scalp was now giving signs that her blush had crept past critical.

"Sorry," she finally said, going over to assist the Goddess in her predicament. After a few minutes, the two of them were able to extract Urd's hand from under the furnace and retrieve the match that had fallen there.

Sora felt a chill, and looked at the door. To her dismay, the door was open, and there was a middle-aged businessman standing as close as he could without being too conspicuous, holding a phone and either taking pictures or video of their antics. Sora paled. Urd turned to look at what caught Sora's eye and frowned.

"No free shows," Urd growled. She pointed a finger at the man, and a small bolt of lightning hit the phone, causing it to explode into dozens of pieces. With a yelp, the man covered his face and took off into one of the apartments.

"Serves him right," Urd muttered, "He didn't even get my best side."

Sora just stared at the Norn. Was she _serious_? The man had taken pictures of her and her "power trio" and all she was worried about was her _good _side? Sometimes, the Goddesses' thought processes made Sora fear for her sanity.

"Want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Sora asked, still feeling flustered. Urd shrugged and lit the match.

"Housecleaning," the Goddess replied, still grinning. From what Sora could see, the place looked more like a landfill than a room. Sora just rolled her eyes at Urd.

"Really, Urd," Sora said, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe, to add as much bravado as she could fake, "Spill it." As an afterthought, she reached over and closed the door before glaring at the still-nude Goddess.

"A spell went bad," Urd said, reaching into a lower drawer for what Sora assumed to be spare clothing.

At least, she hoped so – Urd was swaying her hips as she rummaged in the drawer, making Sora think of all that useless fanservice they put in anime nowadays. Sora could almost see Urd getting herself a job as a hostess or gravure model if she wanted to.

It made Sora a little bit jealous. Here she was, flat and flabby in the wrong places, and most of the women around her now made her feel as if she were… Were… Sora couldn't even find a viable description to work with! Maybe she was the fugly girl stuck in a room full of supermodels. Hell, if even Sayoko were just a bit more average in terms of looks, it'd make her feel a lot better overall. But it wasn't just that. It was…

Urd looked at her and the grin finally faded after she pulled the sweater over her head. She gave Sora an appraising look, as if she were trying to read her mind. Sora unconsciously crossed her arms over her chest, and though that coming here was a bad idea. It wasn't like she needed to prove anything, or…

"Look," Urd said carefully, "I was just messing with you. You don't have to cry."

Sora wasn't crying though! She wiped her eyes and sniffled. It was just from the air in here being awfully smoky from the newly-lit fire.

"I-It's not…" Sora begain, but a sob caught the words in her throat. It wasn't fair, but she shouldn't feel like that, especially since her life wasn't too bad overall, and yet, the tears and sobbing wouldn't stop.

Urd was completely baffled. She was going to tease Sora and maybe do a bit of flirting with the girl to make her a bit nervous, but why was she now bawling her eyes out? Had she really discomfited Sora _that_ much?

Stopping the "why" for a moment, she focused on her sister's wife, going over to her and giving her a comforting hug.

"It's okay," Urd said soothingly into Sora's ear.

"It's not okay," the girl sniffled back, "I-Its j-just…" Urd felt tears soak into her sweater and really wished that she had had the chance to put on her pants. She also wished that she had the powers of a First Class Goddess, Unlimited; she would be able to read the poor girl's mind and emotions enough to help and calm her down.

"Relax," She soothed, patting Sora gently on the back as she tried to ignore the chill on her backside, "Just let it all out, and then we'll talk about it, okay?" Urd felt a rubbing on her shoulder that seemed like an affirmation, so she let the other woman cry herself out before trying to fix whatever it was that was bothering her.

After several minutes, a tear-soaked sweater and goosebumped buttocks later, Sora finally relaxed enough for Urd to finish dressing. She hoped the goosebumps didn't do anything to her smooth, supple skin. Maybe a long soak in the bath would be good, too.

Bringing her thoughts back to the problem before her, Urd offered Sora a seat, and put the kettle on atop the furnace to heat some water. She pulled out two mugs and a couple packages each of cocoa for them, and a few spoons before taking the seat across from the girl.

"It seems you're upset about something," Urd began, "but just crying about it isn't going to fix it, so what's got you so worked up?"

Sora sat there sullenly for a moment, playing with her empty cup. Urd was about to ask again when the college student just shrugged.

Urd sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. The mousy girl just kept staring into the empty cup as if seeing the infinite answers to life the universe and everything there, and the answer was not a resounding forty-two.

"Oh, come on," Urd urged, hoping that Sora wouldn't feel the need to start crying again. Fortunately it seemed that letting her cry it out was the best thing to do, but now she had to find a way to get the girl to even talk before they could even fix the problem.

Sora was being closemouthed now. What was with these humans? It was like trying to pull a burr from Sleipnir's hoof after Loki had slipped him a couple gallons of lager and rampaged with him through the plains of the Aesir. She still hadn't forgiven her fellow God for doing that to her friend.

But back to the task: What _was_ she to do with this mortal? If it were Keiichi she would- no, she had to focus on Sora right now. Maybe if she-

"I," Sora began, interrupting Urd's train of thought, "I don't know what to do. About Belldandy. About this Miss Nekomi thing that Bell wants me to go to. About Keiichi. I have no clue what to do about _any _of it!"

Great! She now had something to work with! It was now apparent that the girl was feeling overwhelmed with the events of the past few months and needed some reassurances.

But it was more than that. Urd couldn't read minds, but she could read body language when she bothered to focus on it.

She did so now, and what she saw emphasized the _true_ problem: The girl had zero self-confidence, and tons of stress. Sora seemed to be trying to shrink into either herself or the cup she was now clutching in a white-knuckled grip, as if holding onto a life preserver. It probably didn't help that she didn't have anyone else of her own age to talk to, or the fact that whenever she did try to banter or use some bravado, it usually fell flat.

It was no wonder why the girl had had that sudden outburst.

So now with the problem found, it was an easy fix: Sora just needed a pep talk and she would be all set! Easy-peasy; no lines, no waiting! It was just like her role as a love goddess – most of the time was spent being a consultant than anything else. Once the person got the confidence (or the right potion) things usually would go smoothly, and she could call it a day.

"It's easy," Urd said, opening her packet of coca, "You don't worry about it. Remember that hakuba potato thing from that show with the lion?"

"_Hakuna matata_?" Sora corrected, frowning, "No worries?"

"Yeah," Urd replied. "No worries! Just let it all go over you as if you were a leaf in a stream."

"Wow," Sora said, her frown deepening, "Zen _and_ cartoon quotes. I guess I'm just wasting your time."

Urd stopped in the middle of getting the water. She could hear the bitter sarcasm dripping from the comment Sora made, but it was underneath that really set her on edge.

Sora thought that not only did she herself feel useless, but that Urd saw her as useless, too.

That meant that this wasn't going to be that easy to fix in the least, especially when her opening salvo to get the girl to ease up had been taken so disastrously.

"I didn't mean it like that," Urd said hurriedly, "I was just trying to get you to relax a bit, okay?"

Sora nodded, and Urd sighed in relief. As she poured the water into the cups, she knew this wasn't going to be as easy as she first anticipated.

"Goddess Hotline Technical Support, Skuld speaking." Said the girl typing furiously on her holocomputer keyboard, "How can I help you today?"

"Any luck finding the problem?" came the voice Skuld loved the most from the other end.

"SIS!" She cried, scaring the person next to her. Skuld stopped typing, mouthed an apology to her co-worker, and went back to her phone call and coding.

"No luck yet," The young Goddess answered in a more sedate tone, "I've been looking at the code, and using a TRON routine to see if there are any leaks, and it's all coming up clean."

"What about the complex array stack?" Belldandy asked from the other end, "I still don't like how obfuscated that code is."

"Clean as a whistle," she replied, "Urd had me go over it, and between us, we documented what we could interpret."

"Good," her sister said, "how much wasn't done?"

"Twenty five lines, all of which have two or three smaller subroutines nested within semicolon-separated commands."

"And the subroutines?"

"Also clear of any bugs." Skuld could hear the sigh of relief from Belldandy.

"Thanks," Belldandy said.

"So," Skuld asked, still looking at the code she had mentioned to her sister, "When are you going to be coming back home?"

"I don't know yet, Skuld."

She didn't know? How could she not know? True, time flowed differently here, but this time, a microscopic gateway in the Plains of Aesir had been opened to keep everything in "Earth Time" and not so wonky, but even still…

"I miss you," She said lamely, her typing slowing.

"I know. I miss you too. I have to go, Skuld. Keep me posted, okay?"

"Yeah. Later, Sis."

"Bye," Belldandy said, "Love you. Send Mother and Father my love."

"Will do," She said and hung up.

Without telling her sister she loved her.

"Ah! Crap!" Skuld exclaimed, startling her co-worker again. This time, though, she didn't apologize, because she had completely forgotten to take down the number her sister was calling from.

"Crap!" She said again to emphasise her dismay. Well, maybe she'll be able to get the number when she calls Urd, and then she could contact Belldandy and make it up to her.

Or maybe…

Skuld smiled as she typed up the requisition form that would allow her to go see her sister soon.

Sayoko Mishima looked annoyed with the report before her. She was sure there was something pointedly missing from this document, which showed that a whole lot of money had handily vanished from under the accountant's nose. The man before her, young, and charming seemed more nervous than he usually did.

But that's the crux of the matter – Was he so nervous because he was involved, or was he nervous because he was caught in the middle of such a big problem and couldn't see it himself, that he feared that he was going to be canned immediately? Sometimes, she wished that she didn't have such a good head for numbers, then she could let the old man and his head flunkies deal with these problems.

"I see," She said, looking over the report and taking in each item carefully. She knew she shouldn't blame her father for her talents, and she really couldn't stand people being dishonest with her, which seemed to happen too often of late. Maybe the numbers on lines five and nine were the discrepancy?

_You're skirting around the issue,_ she thought to herself, _and you know it. He wasn't being dishonest with you. If anything, he had been more open to you than possibly anyone but your parents._

She scowled as she quelled the thoughts. The young accountant swallowed visibly, and Sayoko could see sweat forming on his brow. Still no signs from the man, she soldiered on, comparing the assets to the liabilities paid out by the company. The solution was in here, she knew it.

Just like with Keiichi Morisato. The problem was there, and it was glaring, but it was so obvious, that she couldn't see it so clearly. Well, she had severed ties with him, so there should be no problems, right?

No, the numbers didn't add up. They did, but the something missing was just too-

There. In the bills paid. The amount paid out to the electric and water companies seemed much too high, when totaled up together. On average, a company this size wouldn't use this much of either resource. Yet, this company, about one third the size of her father's main building in terms of equipment and manpower, was using almost the same amount in terms of these services.

"Interesting," Sayoko said, looking at the man from the corner of her eye, "So, can you tell me who it is responsible for writing the checks for water and electric?"

The young man paled, and Sayoko smiled sweetly. She had it figured out easily and, come the end of this discussion, the man would no longer have a job here and worse, if he couldn't produce the "reallocated" funds.

"To start with," she continued, "I would like to see the bills and the checks paid out to these companies for the past six months." The man nodded numbly and left, the president of this small company following in his heels to see that he didn't get into any funny business.

Yes, it had been easy to figure out, so, why was she feeling so unsatisfied?

She got up from the chair, stretched, and organized the papers splayed all over the huge desk for quick reference to the incoming paperwork, before sitting back down again.

_If it was so easy to see,_ her betraying thoughts echoed, _then why are you so upset? Maybe you were missing something? Maybe you're missing... him?_

Frustrated, she slammed the papers onto the desk, causing the branch president and the doomed accountant to jump as they reentered the room.

Recovering quickly, she dropped into the chair and frowned, using every inch of her "Ice Queen" persona from school to add to the diversion.

"Fortunately, this won't take long," She began, giving a withering look to the accountant. She had been told his name, but since he'd no longer be working here, she didn't care to remember it, "Now, if you'll both have a seat, we'll begin with the accounts for this month, and go from there."

Okay, so Urd now had them full of coca, and she still couldn't get to the crux of Sora's problem. It wasn't from trying, but rather the other woman seemed to be less forthcoming with any information, which only confirmed her earlier suspicion that the girl had no peers to confide in. The most Sora had offered while sipping on her cocoa, was that the hectic life the Goddeses had introduced her to had brought down her grades, cut into her club time (Sora's "down time" as she called it) and upped her living expenses.

And even with that, it _still_ wasn't the heart of what was eating at the girl. Maybe Sora had her eye on someone before she had made her wish? Perhaps Keiichi had yet another admirer that Urd was in competition with? Now that she looked at it, it always seemed that Keiichi and Sora had adopted each other as surrogate siblings, with him being the "Older Brother" to his "Little Sister."

Right. She knew exactly what the girl needed, and was going to get it for Sora whether she wanted it or not.

"Okay," Urd said, standing up, "Get your jacket. We're going out."

Confused, Sora looked at her, mouth open, "Out? Out to where at this hour of the night?"

"I'll tell you once you get your jacket on."

Hesitantly, Sora put on her jacket, and Urd followed suit. As she opened the door, she took hold of Sora's arm and started dragging her down the street.

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing?"

"We're going out," Urd answered.

"I got that," the girl replied, squirming to break Urd's iron grip, "But you didn't say where!"  
"Silly me," Urd said, not looking at her captive, "We're going," And she paused dramatically for the reveal, "to where the men are."

Sora had been half-expecting Chippendale's, a wrestling match or hell, even the gay strip club on upper Fifth and Twenty-second, but she hadn't been expecting this.

They were standing in front of the Men's dorm.

The first thing that came to mind, was that Urd, in her desperate need to bed Keiichi, had decided to drag Sora along as a third wheel.

But that didn't make sense. Urd barely did more than make googly eyes at Kei. Could she be possibly using him to pull an intervention? And if so, for what? Sora didn't drink, or smoke or even go to parties! Could Urd be using him as a guinea pig for Sora to practice with? And if so, practice what? If anything, the way Urd was going about things was making her feel less like talking and more like running home to Mom and Dad to hide in her bed forever.

"What in Heaven's name are we doing here?" she asked Urd, still looking at the dorm with trepidation. If Urd didn't have an iron grip on her wrist, she'd probably make good her escape before she could involve the Auto Club.

That is, if she even had a clue about what it was the Goddess was planning to do.

"It's a secret," Urd winked, before turning back to the door, "It'll be fun!"

She gave another experimental tug, hoping that the Goddess would let go. Urd winked at her again before going up to the door and knocking.

"Stop that," Urd hissed as Sora tried one final time. Defeated, she decided to just get this… whatever… over as soon as possible.

The door opened, and the new kid, Hoshi, peered from behind it. He looked as if the knocking had awakened him.

"Go away," he mumbled, trying to adjust glasses that weren't there, "we don't want any."

Urd raised her eyebrows quizzically.

"Yes," She murmured, just loud enough to be heard, "Yes, you do." she then flicked a finger at the boy, and a thin bolt of lightning did the same to his ear.

"OW!" He screamed, looking more awake, "What the Hell?"

"Are Otaki and Tamiya here?" Urd asked sweetly, acting as if nothing happened. Sora looked at her funny, but she continued, "I need them for important Auto Club business."

Still rubbing his ear, Hoshi hollered into the building, letting everyone know that it was for the duo. In moments, the pair could be heard striding down the hall in their heavy workboots.

"Didja tell dem we don't want any?" Tamiya asked in his best Yakuza impersonation. If Sora didn't know the big guy like she did, she would have fled by the gruffness of his tone.

"Yeah," Hoshi said, still rubbing his ear, "but they _still_ won't go away."

The door opened wider and the two men all but scowled at them. It was so intimidating, that Sora gulped and took a reflexive step back from the door.

The two men towered over her, but standing next to them, Urd didn't seem as small. She grinned and waved at them with a finger. They blinked at her in surprise.

"Hey look," Tamiya said happily, "It's Belldandy's sister!"

"Hi Urd," Otaki said, before turning to growl at Hoshi, "Hey, Why didn't you tell us it was Sora and Urd?"

"Because," The boy snapped back, "that wasn't what you asked me!"

Tamiya waved the younger man off before turning back to the girls before him.

"Keiichi ain't here." He said simply, "I have no idea where he is."

"Same." Otaki added, "Haven't seen him for three days now. Left a message saying he'd be back, but that's it."

"Actually," Urd said, looking at the men, "I came here-we came here to speak to you. And the rest of the Auto Club."

"Us?" the men said in unison, "About what?"

"About the pride of the Auto Club."

OMAKE

Here is something that Dav and I came up with when I hit a brick wall on this chapter. While not completely lost, you'll probably see why I didn't use a lot of it (Translation: I would have segued away from where I was heading overall…

URD: You need to get laid.

SORA: What?

URD: I'm not joking. I'm serious. As a love goddess I can tell you that 86 percent of the time women have the kind of confidence problems you do, it stems from insecurity concerning their sexuality. You need a man... at least for ten minutes. Put on your jacket. Let's go.

SORA: Go? Go where?

URD: Where the men are, Sora... Where the men are...

Ten minutes later...

HOSHI: That is fucking bullshit! There is no way in HELL that Tigh is a fucking Cylon!

OTAKI: Ten thousand yen! Right now! Ten thousand yen says before this series dies, Tigh goes Terminator!

TAMIYA: That would be like an M Night Shymalan kind of twist...

HOSHI: It's stupid!

(Knock on the door)

URD: (Leaning in) Yo, where the white women at?

OTAKI: Um... can we help you?

URD: Yes. I would like to pay one of you gentlemen to have sex. (Poses)

ALL THREE: DIBS!

URD: ... With Sora here.

ALL THREE: Nevermind...

SORA: This is so embarrassing.

URD: Okay, first of all, the three of you are virgins, so you really have no room to be picky.

HOSHI: I'm not a...

URD: Yeah, don't even try, Poindexter. Second of all, as members of the Auto Club, it is your solemn DUTY to help out a fellow member. Well, fellas, Sora here needs something to take the edge off.

SORA: Please... for the love of god... stop...

TAMIYA: I don't know... It doesn't seem right...

URD: Look, I'd do it myself, but I'm a woman and... huh... Come to think of it... I could just do it myself...

SORA: WHAT?

Urd: you seemed to like looking at my hooch..

Sora: I did not!

The guys: SHE DID WHAT?

TAMIYA: Wait... are you and Sora going to...you know...

SORA: NO!

URD: Maybe.

SORA: NO!

URD: Tell you what, we'll make out if you and Gigantor there do.

TAMIYA and OTAKI: (Turn green)

URD: Yeah, not so hot now, is it?

SORA: I am not making out with you!

URD: Then ask Belldandy.

SORA: Wh... What?

URD: I'm serious. She's your wife, right? It's the most appropriate solution here... And we both know how much you enjoy a good fish taco.

SORA: How about I ask Keiichi?

URD: Wait... what?

SORA: (Arms folded) He's a member of the Auto Club... I'm sure he'd help out a fellow member.

URD: ...

Urd: He can't.

Sora: Why?

Urd: Because.. He's got conjunctivitis. It's very contagious.

SORA: Ha! I knew it! You DO have a thing for him!

URD: No! No! That's just stupid you big... stupid... Dammit, I had something for this... um... STUPID!

SORA: You're just a big hypocrite! You lecture me about not having any confidence, but you can't even tell a guy that you like him!

URD: Okay. Fine. I'll make you a deal.

SORA: Um...

URD: You win Miss Nekomi... and I'll sleep with Keiichi.

SORA: That is the stupidest thing I ever heard of...

URD: What do you say? (Holds her hand out) I'm willing to face my fear if you can face yours.

SORA: That isn't a fair bet! There's no way for you to lose!

URD: Those are the BEST bets!

URD: What? I don't want to sleep with her!

SORA: I mean her and Keiichi!

URD: At the same time? Well... okay, why not?

SORA: (Rubs her temples)

SORA: What the hell is the matter with you?


	20. That Little Something

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for helping me with some conundrums I was having with this chapter, yet again. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. Real life's a bitch by the way, else I probably would have had this done sooner. Meh.

And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 20

That Little "Something"...

Three days.

Seventy-two hours. Most of it, non-stop. Sure, there were breaks in there and naps, but Keiichi had never before been through that, and didn't want to again, if he could help it. Thankfully nobody had been hurt when the original scaffolding had collapsed, but it had still been a key part of the set.

His mind was drifting now from lack of sleep, so he shook his head and stood up from his work station. Keiichi stretched, yawned, and took a few laps around the staging floor to try to get the blood flowing, and stave away the sleepiness he was feeling. It somewhat worked, but he still yawned a few more times before going back to his seat and his soldering.

He stared at it for several minutes, wondering just what the hell he was actually doing to the circuit. He squinted, trying to remember where he had left off, and continue from there. This should be simple - he remembered that from when he was looking at what he was repairing, but he couldn't focus on what it was exactly about it that had made it simple. Was it the capacitor/inductor loop? Maybe the transistor chip not even put in yet? Frustrated, he leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes with his palms, and let out a disgusted sigh.

"That didn't sound too good," A voice said behind him, making him start. He leaned back a bit more, swiveled his chair, and stared at his boss. The older man looked as tired as he felt, with dark lines showing up under his eyes, and his usually neat hair looking a bit ruffled. As he came over to Keiichi, he yawned, causing the younger man to imitate him.

"I think I need a break," Keiichi answered, staring at the circuit again, "I think I have wanted to solder this node at least twice now."

The older man nodded, looking at the wafer of silicon, and nodded again for emphasis, "I can't make heads or tails of it either. I vote we call it quits for now - we got enough of it done so they can at least start shooting again tomorrow."

"You think so?" Keiichi asked, still staring at the board.

"Yeah. Go get some shuteye in one of the lounges. The busses don't run for another few hours, so some sleep before you head home will do you good. I'm heading home, myself."

Keiichi nodded and said goodnight to his boss. He turned his chair away from the workbench and yawned yet again. At least now he could head for the dorms in a few hours and get some real sleep. It was a Saturday, as well, so he could even catch up on his homework for the missed days once he'd rested.

He sighed, got up from the chair, turned off the magnifier-light, soldering gun and multi-meter, and started to put away all the components into their assigned bins. As he did so, he remembered what it was he needed to do with the circuit, so, instead of pulling all the stuff back out again and forgetting, he wrote himself a few comments and a quick diagram on a post-it note, and placed it on the board before turning off the desk light.

The prep area was still lit enough by the dim overheads that he wouldn't kill himself, but he still moved carefully; in this dopey state, he was just as likely to trip on his own feet as on any of the loose cables strewn over the floor. Fortunately, he made it to the lounge with no incident, found the emergency blanket and pillows in the supply closet, and settled down for a bit of sleep.

For what seemed like twenty minutes. He opened his eyes, because someone was shaking him gently by the shoulder.

"Hey," a feminine voice said, "wake up. We have places to go."

He managed to keep his eyes closed, hoping the voice would go away if he feigned sleep long enough. He thought of adding in a snore, but knew that the person would see through it.

"It's not working, Grace," another female voice said, "I still think we need to get the bucket of water."

"And soak the sofa?" A third woman said, "Katie, the producer would be pissed if we ruined the furniture."

"Maybe I should just jump on him," Katie said. He felt two hands push hard on the cushion," And one, and two-"

He opened his eyes. Above him were three of the prettiest actresses he'd ever met.

Of course, he'd never really met actresses before, but it still...

"Okay," he said, "I'm awake!"

Katie smirked and crossed her arms in an "I told you so" way, but while Grace's almond eyes glared at her, the bright blue of Tricia's barely even looked Katie's way; instead, she was staring at him so intently, he felt self-conscious.

"You know what I think you need?" Tricia finally said, "You need to take us out and show us some of this city!"

Keiichi blinked at her, feeling perplexed.

"What?" He said after a moment.

"You've worked your ass off," Katie continued, "and we've been bored from being trapped in our hotel rooms, so show us some of this city of yours."

"But," Keiichi began to protest, "I don't really liv-"

"Technicalities," Katie interrupted, grabbing his blanket from him before he could think, "Up and at 'em!"

"We should let him wake up, first." Grace noted, "He'll probably want something to eat, too."

"Eh," Katie said, shrugging, "we'll just get coffee and donuts or something when we go out." She turned to look at him with a thoughtful look on her face, "Do you even have anything open for breakfast at this time?"

Keiichi's eyes went to the clock and frowned. Either he had only been asleep for two hours and it was 5:00 in the morning, or he overslept, and it was twelve hours later than that. He hoped the former, because his bus ticket expired by 4:00 p.m. He looked at the girls, and couldn't decide form either their demeanor or their wardrobe which it could be, and without windows, he was still unsure as to the truth of the matter. Fortunately, Grace gave him the answer with her reply.

"I talked to Joe, and he said the McDonald's down the street opens at 5:30." she said, looking at her watch, "So he can get a quick shower and we'll be ready to go."

"Excellent," Katie said, eyes seeming to sparkle happily, now that they had a plan, "Go grab a shower and be back here in ten."

In reply, Keiichi yawned and started to remove himself from his makeshift bed.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The air was incredibly cold this high up.

That was almost all that Aoshima could think of, as he reached out his open window and attempted to scoop in some of the wispy cloud he was slowly steering his car through.

Even though he shivered, he could still feel anxious sweat building on his brow; if he wasn't careful, he would crash the car into the mountain they were passing by, and he and his unwitting passenger would be in a very bad situation.

_Slowly,_ he said to himself while pressing on the brake and hoping that, like the steering and the gas pedals that had just started working in a limited capacity just recently, that it would prevent him from puncturing the unusual vessel against the jagged mountain's surface.

He turned the wheel slowly, feeling the former Ferrari slowly lurch in the direction he indicated. Watching the small cup fill with an even smaller amount of water, he pulled away from the cloud when it was about halfway full. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could risk, with such limited control of the machine.

Thankfully, the kid's bag was full of nutrition bars, so they wouldn't starve, but it was frustrating that neither his, nor the kid's cell phones still worked, no matter how close they came to civilization. Maybe the freak event that caused his car to blow up into a dirigible destroyed the phones as well? If so, it was rather odd in how it had worked. He tried to size it up in his mind.

The car still had a working air conditioning system. It also had working windows and wiper blades. Heck, even the lights worked when he turned them on!

The kid had discovered that the glove compartment and radio had worked when he was bored and messed with the knobs to the device on the second day they had been trapped up here, and now, on their fifth day, they were still getting good reception on any station they tuned into.

Aoshima was rather annoyed that the kid had a fascination for the current selection of pop tunes, but it did make the time go by a bit more pleasantly then the horrible silence they had on their first day.

Aoshima looked at the landscape carefully, hoping to see something either his father's company or the Mishima Corporation owned, so he could determine exactly where they were. From what he could tell, they were heading north to Hokkaido, but _how_ far away they were from those offices, he wasn't sure, considering that last night had been so dark, they couldn't tell if they had been over land or water.

And then, he saw it. Lake Katsurazawa, a c-shaped lake he had been to in his teen days. If that was the case, then to the right was…

Yes! It was Mount Yubari! He had been skiing on those slopes, so he knew that if he…

He sighed. If he hadn't been able to get the car down before, what made him think that it was going to start going down now?

"What's wrong, Mister Aoshima?" The kid asked. Thankfully, the kid didn't look as bad as Toshiyuki felt, but the kid did have some signs of strain showing on his features.

"Nothing," Aoshima sighed, looking longingly at the lake, "Here. Have some water." He handed the cup to the boy, who thanked him and drank the little bit of liquid gratefully. Aoshima had to think. They had just passed two cloud-covered peaks in what seemed to be a few minutes, had just passed a lake he was familiar with about several minutes later, which meant that…

It wasn't good: With the mountain they passed probably being Mount Sapporo, and then the lake, which was about 80 kilometers away in a few minutes, it meant they were possibly stuck in a jet stream. If the balloon were to somehow deflate, they would be over the ocean when it did so.

And if the car didn't start to deflate, they were going to die up here.

He didn't want that for either himself or the kid, but what could he do? If he punctured the delicate membrane, it was likely to violently implode and cause them to go hurtling towards their deaths.

Suddenly, he smelled something. It was faint at first, but as the heater kept mysteriously blowing air from machinery that shouldn't be working at all, it increased as they floated along.

"Say, Mister Aoshima," Sentaro said, inhaling the scent deeply, "Am I imagining it, or is that fresh-baked bread that I smell?"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"You're baked," Hoshi said, slamming down his tea cup in annoyance, "Tigh is NOT a frakkin' Cylon!"

"Oh, come on!" Tamiya replied, spreading his hands on the table, "It's obvious! I mean, they plucked out his eye and EVERYTHING!

"That doesn't mean shit!" He said, getting worked up, "I call bullshit! Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!"

"Well, then," Otaki said, after taking a sip of his tea, "Would you like to make a wager on it?"

Hoshi looked suspiciously from the tanned man to the blond one, before leaning back.

"Twenty bucks says he's not a Cylon!" Hoshi cried, reaching into his pocket and slamming the money on the table.

"DONE!" the other two said simultaneously. After a bit of fishing in their pockets, they put up their own money to the bet.

"Great!" Urd said, feeling rather annoyed with the boys, "Now with that settled, can we get down to business?"

The three men jumped as if they hadn't expected her to be here. To be honest, she really wanted to _not _be in this drafty clubhouse, especially since they had been up all night debating everything except what she had wanted to discuss. It was annoying that they had to first move from the dormitory to the Auto Club proper because of their stupid rules on women, then it rankled when they wouldn't discuss anything without tea.

And now she was getting pissed that they had segued to the point where they hadn't even bothered with what she had wanted to say! Sora was dozing next to her and, to her credit, the mousy girl seemed to have kept up with a majority of their chatter, until they all started going on about this show of theirs.

With their attention now on her, Urd nudged Sora, causing the girl's head to slip off her propped hand, and slide into the table with a solid "thump."

"Ow!" Sora said, rubbing her head morosely.

"As I was just saying," Urd sighed, "We need to talk to you guys about something important to the Auto Club."

"Like what?" Hoshi asked, still sounding argumentative. He crossed his arms in front of him and practically glared at Urd. It wasn't as if _she_ had made him serve her and the rest tea.

"Like the fact that we need to know what makes guys tick," Urd said, "Such as their likes and dislikes. Don't look at me like that! Sora doesn't believe me, so we're here to get this sorted."

"And how does that affect the Club?" Tamiya asked.

"That," Urd said, "is a secret for after you tell her the answers to what I am going to ask you."

They did not look amused, but after the amount of her time they had wasted with their inane club meeting and babble, she felt that they deserved it. She ignored the little voice in her head that noted she could have reined them in better, and focused on the point she was trying to drive home to Sora.

It also didn't help that she hadn't been really acting all that normal since her brush with the anomaly; she still couldn't figure out how the hell she could see, let alone hear Mio when even Belldandy couldn't.

It wasn't time for that, though. She had to get to business, before they ran rampant again.

"First," she said, pointing to Sora, "What do you guys think of her?"

They all stared at her for a moment, then looked at the girl in question. After a moment, Otaki coughed politely.

"Honestly?" he asked.

Urd rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"Er," he fumbled, sweat starting to show on his brow, "In what context?"

"As a woman," she replied, "that _you'd_ want to go out with, if you will."

The men looked at one another nervously, and Urd realised she phrased that wrong. Otaki opened his mouth, but Urd forestalled him.

"What I meant," Urd said, glaring at them, "was this: How womanly, or even attractive do you find Hasegawa here is?"

The men relaxed, feeling relieved until what Urd said penetrated their skulls. The look of panic on their faces showed that, to them, this was almost as bad as asking "Does this dress make me look fat?" does to any man.

"I'm serious," Urd said, trying to calm them down, "It's really, REALLY important for the honor of the Auto Club."

Mollified a little, it was actually Tamiya that spoke up this time.

"Ya see," he said, not really looking at Sora, "we always thought of her as one of the guys."

The rest nodded in agreement except Hoshi, who merely shrugged.

"What about you?" she said, pointing to the boy, "Since you were dragged here, it would be impolite to not get you in on this."

He looked at Sora, looked at Urd's boobs and face, before looking back at Sora.

"Meh," was all he said before shrugging again. Urd saw Sora flinch from the harsh criticism from the corner of her eye, and smiled inwardly. Yes, the girl was definitely going to get an education that will change her whole perspective.

"What does this prove?" Sora asked as she blushed and stood up, "I think I'm just wasting my time here."

"Sit," Urd said, using a little of her power to make it a command. The girl dripped back down to the floor, her face turning a deeper shade of red.

Ignoring the original question, Urd returned her gaze to the men.

"So," she said, crossing her arms over her expansive bosom, "what is it that you find attractive?"

"Really?" Hoshi asked, looking surprised as he gave her a thorough scan.

"Yes," Urd said firmly. She was resisting the urge to zap the boy into next week, "really."

Surprisingly, it was Otaki that started. He put up his hand as if he were in kindergarten, meekly awaiting her acknowledgement. Maybe she had put a little too much power in that command? It was something to keep in mind the next time she used that spell.

"Go ahead," she said, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else," Otaki said, blushing a little as he adjusted his sunglasses, "but I like girls that are, well, girly. The frills, the dresses, the long hair. Not saying that short hair is bad, even with her new, nice haircut, but..." Urd glanced over at Sora, who looked as if she was a puppy that had just been kicked.

Tamiya followed suit by raising his hand. Urd nodded and he straightened up as he practically yelled.

"Girls need to be girls!" he blasted at the top of his lungs, "Girls are to be treated like girls! Girls need to make decisions on who-" But a punch from Otaki to his shoulder made him falter, "Er... Well..." And _he_ shrugged, too! What's with these guys and shrugging? Urd slammed her hand on the table, making all present jump.

"Now that I have your attention again," she pointed to the funny-looking guy with the mask on his head, "You! Who is the most popular girl at this school?"

"Ma'am!" he said, sitting up straight instead of lounging on the floor, "Sayoko Mishima, Ma'am!"

"And why is that?" Urd asked, arching her eyebrow slightly.

"Because she's rich!" One of the guys in the back said. There were a few weak laughs to that.

"No. Why is she _really_ popular?"

There was a pause, as each of the guys looked at each other in confusion. Slowly, Tamiya raised a gloved hand.

"Cause," he said, his face trying to figure out exactly what to say, "she's got that... Thing. You know, like models got."

Urd arched her eyebrow higher, and crossed her arms again, waiting for him to continue. Surprisingly, it was someone else that spoke up.

"You mean 'poise'?" Sora said in almost a whisper.

"Yeah!" Tamiya exclaimed, thumping the palm of his hand with a fist, "That!" The rest of the boys nodded, some of them looking thoughtfully at each other, as if they were reevaluating the debutante. Suddenly, one of the others in the back spoke up.

"She also dresses sharp," he said. All Urd could see of the kid that said that was the little bit of black hair poking up from behind Otaki's shoulder. Looking over at the mousey girl, he did have a point – there was only so much you can do if everything you wore made you look wrinkled and dumpy. How many of those loose-fitting sweaters _did_ Sora own, anyway? She decided to file that away for later.

"And what else?" Urd prompted. This time, the pause was longer, because nobody seemed to figure it out. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Urd decided to save them.

"It's her attitude," she sighed, shaking her head slowly, "Yes, she is attractive, but that and everything else you mentioned are the keys to the whole! If she didn't have any of the attitude for it, nobody would stare at her as much as they do!"

They all looked at her as if she were crazy, except for Tamiya, Otaki and the guy with the mask that Urd still couldn't remember the name of; they must have been thinking of girls they knew or were attracted to that had the same qualities. Hoshi looked at her as if she were talking out of her ass, but Urd basically ignored him; all the stories Keiichi had told her, Sora and her sister regarding his "Ricardo" or "Roberto" or whatever his online persona was called did not impress this Goddess in the least.

Sora was looking down at her hands, but whether in embarrassment or contemplation, Urd didn't know. She knew that the things she-

"Ya know," Tamiya said, looking thoughtful, "I can see that. It's like with a certain... Someone me and Den-chan know. She's got all of that, and she was very popular." Tamiya nodded sagely.

"Idols," Mask-boy said, "and voice actresses. They're the same as Miss Mishima. It doesn't matter if they're gorgeous or plain. Both are attractive, because they have those things you pointed out."

"And they don't need 'gazongas' either," someone from the back added, "yeah, those are nice, but how many idols have you seen with a huge rack?"

Urd didn't know if she should zap him or hug him for that, but between that and what the mask guy said, it made the boys start to discuss the ideas in depth. She moved some of her silvery hair behind her left ear and smiled in satisfaction. Sora was indeed thinking about the topics - she laced her fingers together, and, elbows resting on the table, placed her thumbs against the bridge of her nose, a pose Urd had seen her take when puzzling out her homework.

"What about Grace Park, or even Katie Sackhoff?" Hoshi said aloud, causing Urd to look at the boy, "They got it as much as Tricia."

"That may be," Otaki said, "but you tell me right now, that watching Tricia walking across the floor with that walk of hers doesn't top those two, I won't believe it."

And there it was: Urd's cue to get her and Sora out of here, before they got pulled into the inanity that was the Otaku mind. I always seemed to go back to their little fixations. Urd would have thought it cute, if it wasn't so pathetic.

"Well, It's been fun, boys," She said, grabbing hold of Sora's hand as she rose, "But we have to get going. Thanks for your help." Urd had made it to the door and had it open when Otaki spoke.

"So," he began, rubbing the back of his head with a hand, "ya didn't tell us how this was important to the Auto Club."

"Oh," Urd said, shoving Sora out the door before her, "That. Well, you see, Sora's entering the Miss Nekomi Contest, and the PR might be good for the club. Hope that helps sate your curiosity for now. Bye!" She waved to the shocked group as she closed the door behind her.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Okay.

He was cleaned up as well as he possibly could get, with his three-day-old sweats and t-shirt he had worn to work. He was now full of Egg McMuffin and coffee.

He also needed to figure out where the hell to take these women that would satiate their touristy cravings.

_Why don't you take them to the museum or something_**?** Malaika's voice whispered through his mind_, I bet they're really into the arts._

He hadn't heard from the angel in days, but then again, he was probably too preoccupied with work, so maybe it was better that she hadn't been around.

_It wasn't that, Hon,_ the melodious voice said, _I was so caught flatfooted with... Well, let's just say that I needed to mull over things before we made them worse._

Keiichi frowned a little. _What?_ He asked, remembering to not say anything aloud, _Why bother?_ _I screwed up. It's over. End of story. Now I just have to wait to screw up the next one._

_Kei,_ the angel said, Hon, _you _really _don't have any clue about women, do you? Yes, there are setbacks, but unless you do something fatally stupid, things can get worked out._

He was doubtful, but decided to let the angel continue. Thankfully, the three women he was with were looking at something in a shop he really didn't feel comfortable going in, so he had a moment to himself. He could see Grace asking the cashier about something by pointing vigorously at it. Katie and Tricia were both making their way to the fitting rooms at the rear of the store, so he was alone for at least the next ten minutes or so.

_Okay,_ Keiichi thought, crossing his arms and leaning against the building in a more relaxed position, _I'll bite._

_The problem is,_ Malaika said, _that you need to at _least_ make the effort. It's great that you were honest with her, but did you ever think that, by walking away the way she did, that she might have wanted you to _chase _her? I'm not saying it was the case, but until she either slaps you in the face with either her hand or a restraining order, you need to be a bit more proactive._

There it was again: That strange feeling of familiarity he couldn't put his finger on.

_Anyway,_ Malaika said hurriedly, _could you work on your follow-through a bit more? You know, maybe apologize to her, or bring her flowers or, hell, maybe even stand outside her window with a boom box playing some Peter Gabriel, _the angel sighed. _God, how I love that movie._

Keiichi didn't know what movie she meant, but hoped that, whoever did that stunt didn't get himself killed falling off a skyscraper.

Still: no matter how many boom boxes or songs from this Peter Gabriel guy were brought into play, Keiichi was completely sure the outcome would be the same; in his two decades of life, he had never gone out with anyone and, at this juncture in his life, it was becoming disheartening.

_Keiichi,_ Mailaika sighed, _you need to be more positive! Maybe with a better outlook, things will get going faster than you think!_

He didn't reply. Keiichi just leaned against the building and watched as the girls finally finished their excursion into the store.

They came back talking about the place, and he assumed it was all positive, but because of how fast they talked, and because it was all in more advanced English than he knew, he barely got every other word. They were all smiling though, so he guessed that it was a positive review on the place. He just smiled politely, and let them continue.

"Keiichi?" Tricia said, gently rubbing his shoulder and causing him to start, "You okay?"

"What?" Keiichi said, slightly embarrassed, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Really?" Tricia asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "Really." He did feel like he wanted to go home and crawl into bed, but really: Three actresses? How could anyone pass up the opportunity to play host to three lovely women like that?

_So,_ Malaika all but purred, _are you thinking with your heart or your groin when you say that?_

Keiichi had been caught flat-footed, so he didn't have a reply for the angel.

_If you show him women,_ she continued in a near sing-song, _he will come! And yes, it _is_ intended to sound dirty!_

Tricia, who wasn't in on the second conversation he was having, started leading him over to the other two, and they started to head down the street to the next thing that might catch their eye.

_So far_, Malaika said in a thoughtful tone, _it seems like they might just use you as their "mule." That is, if they just keep detouring into shops like this, at least._

Keiichi agreed. He needed to do something to change the way they were going, since each step took them closer to the main shopping "veins" of the city. If they went about 500 meters and turned a corner, they would be at the Gucci store.

Keiichi didn't want to degrade into a stereotype, but he was afraid that the ladies he was with would soon just hit all the stores and ignore any of the more interesting sights around town.

Whatever those were – he never really did anything but visit Tokyo Tower a handful of times, and even then, it was for school field trips. There were also the few adventures he had taken for supplies for work, but those were all within a five-block radius to his job and the train station. He needed something to get them away from here, but… What?

Frustrated, he shoved his hands into his pockets, and grinned. Keiichi's hand had brushed across the stiff plastic card that was his bus pass, and he knew exactly how he could keep this trip from degrading into shopping hell.

"Excuse me," he said as politely as he could, "But we're actually going to head the opposite way, towards the bus station."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sora was quiet as they walked back to the apartment. It was not just the fact that she had been given an eye-opener by the Norn and the Auto Club, but also the fact that she was dead tired, and wanted to get some sleep in the worst way. The sun wasn't up yet, but there was that glow that you get, that creeps up on you during the night and makes you say to yourself "Holy crap! Where did the time go?" as you try to cram every minute detail of your class's curriculum into your brain for the test that would be taken later that day.

She stifled a yawn, but when it started to build again, she just let it go; what good would it do her, anyway? She still had to go home and study, or sleep, and hope that Belldandy hadn't decided to wait up for. At that same moment, her stomach growled, angry that it had been taken away from one of Belldandy's cooked meals just for this little, pointless adventure into the male mind. Sure, the boys had brought tea cans and snacks, but they did not compare to the Norn's cooking in the slightest. If anything, it just made her stomach growl more violently than it had before.

Sora sighed in disgust. She wanted to go home and sleep and hopefully make it to her morning class with some cohesion to her thoughts, but chances are that she was going to need to waste more time just getting to the bed before she could actually sleep.

"You awake back there?" Urd asked. Sora chose not to reply, and just focus on shambling along behind the elder Norn instead. She was still rather mad at Urd's methodology, and really hoped that the Goddess would feel bad for dragging Sora out in the first place.

Urd looked at her, and all Sora did was answer with a yawn. She could see the Goddess's face screw up in an effort to forestall the contagious act, but after a full minute, gave in and yawned wider and louder than anyone Sora had ever seen.

"Gee, thanks," Urd said, glaring. Sora smiled slightly at her small revenge.

"You know," the Norn said, not looking behind her, "the boys back there really hit it on the head."

Sora would have liked to give Urd a witty comeback, but she didn't have one. Instead she gave a neutral sound, and continued their journey home.

"So, you agree," Urd nodded, taking her noncommittal response as an affirmation, "You have a lot of work cut out for you, making the grade for that competition."

There were barely a few weeks left. How the hell was she even going to do anything by that time? Even her hair had grown back some already, and Belldandy had mentioned something about a light perm, as well? She could almost hear Bell's good natured voice saying something about how it would frame her face better, or something.

"Whatever," Sora said. The Goddess turned to her suddenly, causing her to stop short before crashing into the taller woman.

"You probably think you're just going to lose right at the beginning," Urd said, a scowl growing on her face, "and with that kind of attitude, you'd be lucky to make it that far! Things take _effort_ for them to be worthwhile!"

"I know that," Sora replied, "I-"

"You don't get it," Urd hissed, interrupting her, "you've already said to yourself that you should just call it off, and it shows! I don't even have to see the aura around you to get that!"

"Well," Sora said, frowning, "What am I expected to do? I can't go up against the empire built up by Sayoko and her little pack of followers!"

"That's exactly what I am getting at!" Urd exclaimed, "Always the 'quit while you're ahead' attitude! I don't even know why I am bothering to help you as much as I have!"

"Well, I didn't even ask you to help!" Sora shot back, "I was coming to you for help getting _out_ of this mess!"

"Why did you need my help?" Urd asked, her eyebrows scrunching together before lifting a moment in surprise, "I see. It's about my sister, isn't it?"

Sora didn't say anything to the Norn.

"I see," Urd said again, placing one hand on her hip, and pointing an accusatory finger at her with the other, "You don't want to disappoint Belldandy! You don't have the stones to go over to her and say that you want to back out!"

The accusation annoyed Sora to no end. Why should Urd be preaching about giving up, when she hadn't even _tried_ to "talk up" Keiichi! True, he had been seeing Sayoko somewhat, but that seemed like a temporary thing, so Keiichi should be on the market again for all she knew.

Sora was tired. She wanted to get back home, grab something quick to eat, and head off to bed, and here was Urd, lording it over her like… Like…

"Screw you, Urd," she hissed at the Goddess, unconsciously taking a defensive posture, "You're one to talk!"

Urd's eyes narrowed, "Oh, really?"

"Yes!" Sora replied, finally pointing an accusatory finger at the Norn, "You're barely able to talk to Keiichi, and yet, for all of your 'prowess' as a love goddess, all you seem to be good at is… Is _simpering_ for him while moping at the coffee table! Have you ever tried to talk to him? Noooo! The most I have ever seen you do is give him a cordial greeting!"

"I do talk to him!" Urd protested.

"If you call 'Hi, Keiichi. Nice day, huh, Keiichi?' conversation! No wonder he doesn't say anything else to you! You give the bare minimum response to even acknowledge his existence!"

Urd's frown deepened, and the scowling Goddess placed both hands on her hips, lifted her chin to look down her nose, and looked as if she were going to throw a world of lightning down on Sora.

"Oh, hey, Keiichi!" Sora said. Almost faster than she could blink, Urd had put her hands behind her back, and was looking around for the boy. If Sora had been calmer, she would have laughed at the other woman, but instead, she pressed her attack.

"See?" she said, throwing her hands up in annoyance, "Just mentioning his name's enough to fluster you!"

"I was-" the goddess protested, but Sora cut her off. She'd had it! After the emotional rollercoaster that was the last couple days, she was so not in the mood.

"Give it up, Urd!" Sora said, exasperated, "Either do something about Keiichi, or don't. I don't care which, but this 'maybe' stuff is driving everyone nuts!"

"You're one to talk!" The Goddess replied, "Pot, Kettle!"

The comment made Sora blink. Was she waffling so badly? She must have been putting out some signal that she'd like to participate, if both Goddesses were trying to encourage her. She couldn't think of anything she had done consciously, and Bell _did_ have that ability to see emotions as colors, so Urd might also…

Sora took a deep breath. Okay. If this was some subconscious desire, then why not try to do it properly? But first, she would need help.

"Okay," she said, "I'll enter the contest and try to win it, but if I do, you have to kiss Keiichi."

The Goddess's eyes opened wide in surprise. "What?"

"I'll enter and compete using whatever coaching you give me," Sora said, "But in return, if I win, you have to ask Keiichi on a date and kiss him."

She spit on her palm before holding out her hand. Urd looked at it as if it were a venomous creature.

Sora patiently waited as she could almost see the debate going on inside the Norn's head. She was still mad at the Norn for wasting her whole night, but still…

"Okay," Urd said, spitting on her own palm before gripping Sora's hand, "We'll do it!" With a good shake of the hand from both of them, she nodded.

"Great," Sora said, yawning, "Can we finally go home now?"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sayoko Mishima's day had started unlike most others – she had woken up late. The reason for waking up late was, for once in her life, she had read something that had totally engrossed her to the point that a) she lost track of time and b) she had neglected to set her alarm clock for the first time in she didn't know how many years. She yawned into the back of her hand, and looked at her wristwatch again with annoyance. How could it already be ten o'clock? It had barely been nine when she finally woke up!

Thinking some very unladylike curses to how her day was going, she took the coffee she was holding, put it on top of her car, and unlocked the door to her McLaren SLR. She got in, closed the door, and turned over the engine. After a moment of letting the car warm up, she put it into reverse, released the break…

… And watched hot coffee pour down the windshield.

"Shit!" She hissed under her breath as she stepped on the brake. She just had the supercar touched up less than a month ago! Now Sayoko was going to have to bring it to the shop _again_ to return it back to showroom-floor perfection!

Disgusted, she released the brake and watched the cup finally roll down the windshield and onto the hood. Sayoko was tempted to get out of the car and stomp on the damned thing, but thought against it. Instead, her hand went to the windshield washer, and she continued maneuvering out of the parking spot.

Sayoko tapped an impatient finger; the light was still red and it had been at least a minute since she had pulled up to the stop line right as it switched from the cautionary amber to the prohibitory crimson. She would have run the red light, too, if it hadn't been for the cross walk attendant running in front of her right before she could punch the gas. As it was, she had barely kept from hitting the woman!

"Now," she said, tapping her finger down with emphasis.

"Now," she repeated, hoping that, in doing so, it might incite the light to actually change. She knew it probably wouldn't, but it still made her feel that her actions _might_ affect an outcome of some sort.

"_Now_, dammit!" her voice was almost a snarl now. Maybe she should have gotten another coffee, especially since she hadn't moved from in front of the damned place! Hell, she could have bought coffee for the whole damned line behind her!

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath…

… And the car behind her started to beep. Sayoko opened her eyes, and saw that the light had finally turned green!

"Finally!" she said, verbally expressing what she had been feeling. She started to move forward, right as the siren screamed from the side street.

"Oh, come _on!_" Sayoko cried in exasperation, her hands releasing the wheel and making a "why" gesture, "It was my turn to go!"

The siren turned out to be a police officer taking the corner, and very adroitly turning off his lights right as he finished his turn. He looked incredibly smug as he did so.

Sayoko made a mental note of the plate and squad car number, and missed her chance to go through the light once more. Maybe she would make it away from this wretched light before lunchime? She doubted it, at the rate she was currently progressing.

After yet another impatient wait, the light went green. Fortunately, the McLaren did have a good take off speed and she finally – Finally! – pulled away from the wretched time sink. She spared a quick glance at the watch, and saw that, if all goes well, she should hopefully make it in time for her second class of the day.

As she was thinking this, the flow of traffic slowed down yet again, and she came to a stop barely ten feet from the bus depot. The bus driver, in all their infinite wisdom, had decided to hedge out into traffic and clipped a car. The car's driver was standing in front of the motorized monstrosity, swearing at the bus driver, who merely bowed with a neutral look on his face. The traffic was from everyone rubbernecking at the scene.

So, she was going to be late after all. She sighed, put the car in neutral…

.. And saw Keiichi Morisato being dragged through the crowd by two blonde ladies and one dark-skinned asian woman.

"What?" she said aloud as the group passed about ten feet away from her. She could see the eagerness clear in the women's faces, but Keiichi looked as if he really wished to be somewhere else.

He also looked exhausted. Sayoko wondered why, and on impulse pulled the car forward to watch the group's progress. They were all standing next to the walkway leading towards the cultural district, and the girls all seemed to be arguing back and forth between them on which way they wanted to go. Keiichi yawned, and looked like he wanted to go back home to bed.

A car horn blared behind her, and she gave a rather unladylike gesture back. Fortunately, the traffic was thin now, so she could progress. She got to the corner, and, on impulse took the turn instead of going straight. She parked the car, got out, and tossed the keys to one of the gentlemen walking next to her car.

"I want this parked in my spot," she told the businessman, who stared at her, "and I want it done now. If I find you haven't done it by the time I get back, Mister Kawashima," she said glaring knowingly at the man who gulped in surprise, "you had _better_ wish that my day improves drastically."

She didn't spare another look at him; Sayoko took off as quickly as she could, and found, to her relief that the girls were still there, arguing while Keiichi seemed to have disappeared. Somehow, she really needed to find out what was going on here, because seeing Keiichi caught up with three women after… She regained her composure, and casually made her way to the trio.

"…don't think he understands us as much has he wants to admit," The taller blonde said, looking dismayed as Sayoko came closer.

"What makes you think that?" the dark-skinned Asian girl asked, "He seems fine to me."

Sayoko frowned slightly. Were they just humoring him? Was this some kind of joke they were pulling on him? Maybe it was a scam. It was very possible that these foreigners were likely up to no good, especially if they had roped a kind-hearted guy like Keiichi into their schemes.

"Because," the tall one answered, "He gets the gist of a lot of it, but haven't you heard him speak? He has the concepts of English down, but not the experience using it."

The shorter blonde was going to respond, but the other stopped her. "Watch this," she said, turning to her left, "Yo, Kei!"

A head popped out from around a vendor, looking inquisitively at the woman, who cupped her hands together.

"I love you!" The woman shouted, drawing questioning looks from passersby, "I want to have sex with you! Be sure to get me two donuts!"

Sayoko gaped as the person in question merely nodded and disappeared once again.

"See?" the tall one said, emphasizing with a gesture towards the cart, "I will bet you each ten bucks he comes back with two extra donuts, and doesn't even react to the rest of it."

"You're crazy, Trish!" The dark-skinned girl said, still in shock. Sayoko could only agree. The shorter blonde laughed aloud, causing more onlookers to stare at the "crazy foreigners" before making a quick retreat.

"What?" the first said, innocently, "It's not like the paparazzi are around, Grace!"

Papparazzi. Ah. That explained a lot to Sayoko. She wondered if these women were supermodels, heirs to fortune 500 corporations or worse – actresses.

Her money was on the latter.

Sayoko approached them and was about to speak, when Keiichi started making his way towards the gaggle, causing the women to look at him. They were all smiling at him and, surprisingly, the smiles were genuine.

The problem though, was the glimmer in the eyes of the one called Trish. There was something in how she eyed the man carrying an impossible amount of junk food that set Sayoko's teeth on edge, almost as if the tall blonde was a predator about to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.

Just like a cougar. The thought almost made Sayoko's teeth grind in annoyance.

"Here he comes," Trish said with devilish delight. Sayoko felt an urge to confront the woman, but declined, merely because she hadn't been seen by the blond yet, and a flat-footed ambush was definitely not Sayoko's style.

She preferred to crush her enemies with her own feet, head-on. Yes, she would wait for the perfect opportunity to address itself; so for now, she was going to casually turn away to prevent Keiichi from recognizing her, and then…

She took out her cell phone and made it look like she was casually listening to someone on the other end, all while keeping her ears to the group. She hoped that they would stay nearby to eat their snacks, so Sayoko could get a feel for the right time to strike. It was a hard thing to do, considering how much she wanted to make the tall bitch put her own foot in her smiling, perfect mouth.

"Thanks, Kei," The one called Grace said. From her tone, Sayoko could tell the woman was at least grateful for the food, if not the one that bought them. A look out of the corner of her eye saw Keiichi give a chilled drink to the shorter blonde, who also said thanks, before taking a long sip from her straw, so she was in the clear, and thus, Sayoko turned around again.

"I appreciate the food, Kei," Trish's voice said, "It's a big improvement over that atrocious catering the producers have on retainer."

"Uh," Keiichi said, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "_s-sank you_." Sayoko winced mentally at the slip-up. It was unintentional, true, but it did clue in both her and the others as to how much he had really been winging it with his responses. She could almost see the grin forming on Trish's face.

"You're welcome," Trish replied. Something in the way she said it made Sayoko look over her shoulder at the woman. She had a beatific smile, and was starting to drape her arm around Keiichi in a casual manner. "So," Trish continued, her voice carrying a silken, sultry hint to it, "how about having a threesome with me and Grace? We do some freaky shit, and Katie just _loves_ to watch!"

Suddenly the short blonde did a spit-take and began coughing to cover up her laughing. Grace's face looked as if someone had hit her in the stomach with a baseball bat or stiletto heels.

Sayoko wanted in the worst way to interject herself into this group and give them a scathing commentary on their behavior, but decided that she wouldn't let her anger dictate the slow, careful planning she knew would work to her benefit. If she jumped in now, she was going to be caught flat-footed and look like the bad guy.

She didn't want that.

The thought surprised her. Why was she trying so hard, in the first place? It wasn't like the boy was family or anything, but still…

It was probably the fact that Keiichi was from her school, and Nekomi students always tried to promote camaraderie and solidarity, especially where _gaijin_ hussies were concerned. Yeah, that was it. She put her phone back into her purse, closed it and was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled into their midst.

_"Hey-"_ she started to protest, but when she was spun around, she was face-to-face with Keiichi. Sayoko was sure the surprised look on his face was equal to hers, but at least he hadn't been caught in mid-protest and didn't look (or feel) like a fish with its mouth open.

"Anyway," Trish said, her voice gaining a level of seduction to it, "We've just met this girl, and she has come up with the most wonderful idea!"

_I have?_ Sayoko thought, but before she could protest, Blondie started flapping her lips again. Keiichi looked from Sayoko to Trish nervously. Grace still was in shock, and Sayoko was sure that she heard Katie laughing like a braying horse – she wasn't sure because she was focused on her captor at the moment.

"She said," Trish continued, "That she would _love_ to join in! She even mentioned we could take turns getting some anal sex from you!"

Ok. That's it! She had had _enough!_ She was thinking of dropping the woman with a few precise strikes her karate Sensei would have been proud of, but in a burst of inspiration, she decided on another tactic.

"I think you should go first, by the way," Sayoko said calmly to Trish in perfect English, trying to keep her best winning smile on her face, "Keiichi's quite huge for a Japanese man. Really, I'm surprised he hasn't taken up any of those offers to make hand-over-fist money from his unique gift."

The three women stared at her and she blinked innocently at them, still smiling. _I bet you weren't expecting _that_ for an answer._ Sayoko thought smugly to herself. _Serves you right._

_"Sayoko,"_ Keiichi said in Japanese, sounding extremely nervous, _"What are you doing here?"_

_"I was just in the area,"_ she said simply, switching to Japanese, _"and thought I'd say 'hi' to you and your… Friends."_

Keiichi looked confused, _"You don't know them?"_ he asked slowly.

The girls in question had migrated a small distance away from them, arguing between themselves. Sayoko could hear snippets of the other two girls calling Trish anything from an idiot to a more "severe" version of jerk. Sayoko smiled inwardly as they kept fighting.

"No," she said, shrugging blandly, _"I have never met them before in my life."_

_"Ah,"_ he said, _"I… Nevermind."_ He sighed as he said this, looking over at the girls in dismay before continuing, _"Are you sure? Tricia did mention something about borrowing six annals when you showed up."_

Somehow, Sayoko kept her composure, and merely shook her head at the boy.

_"That's not what she said,"_ the debutante replied, _"it is nothing for you to worry about, so just forget it." _She made a dismissive gesture before continuing,_ "What you _do _have to worry about, is that your English is really inadequate for the role of… What? Translator or tour guide?"_ At his mumble of tour guide, she resumed her commentary, _"Well, Mister Tour Guide, it seems like you're out of your scope here. Just from what you said to me now, I can almost bet you can only understand every other word, at best."_

She crossed her arms, before putting one finger to her lips, tapping them with it as if in thought. The other women were still in discussions, so she put them mostly out of her mind for the moment. She did hear Trish defending herself from the others with phrases like "I didn't mean it like that." _Good,_ Sayoko thought, _she deserves to get her foot shoved all the way up her annoying horse-face._ She turned back to Keiichi.

"_Here's a thought,"_ Sayoko said, pausing with her finger lightly against her lips in a pondering motion her father had used on occasion, _"I could translate for you, and also make some suggestions if you get stuck with places to take them."_

The surprise on his face was worth it. Whatever doubts she had about him or the situation as she had seen, they were gone now. Keiichi Morisato was a rarer person than she ever could have imagined.

He was as easy to read as an open book. Everything about him was as genuine as a person could get. True, he was blunt in how he said it, but even with polish, his words would always be as close to completely honest as society's foibles would ever allow.

She knew she had dwelt on this before, but each time she saw it in him, it was like a completely different facet of the same person. For someone with such simplistic views on things, the way they mixed together was finer and more intricate than the most detailed circuit she'd ever seen. The analogy actually made her smile a little.

_"You'd really do that?"_ he said, surprised. Of course she'd do that! She was not going to let a predator like that have her way with- well, Sayoko didn't like Trish's attitude, and if she was the leader of this group, things could turn really ugly, regardless of one's intentions.

_"Yeah,"_ she said simply, _"sure."_ She waved the whole thing away with a dismissive gesture and sighed, _"besides, with the day I am having, I won't even make it to my final lecture."_

Keiichi merely nodded in sympathy. From the look of his normally tousled hair looking as if complete bedlam had happened to it, and the deep dark rings under his eyes, he must have been pulling what she has heard her father's workers call an "emergency shift" that must have lasted at least three days. Just looking at his sorry state made Sayoko want to yawn again.

_"Thanks,"_ the boy said, but she was only half-paying attention. The committee seemed to be coming to some sort of head – the passers-by very pointedly ignored the yelling, gesturing women in the middle of the walkway.

"I said I didn't mean it that way!" Trish was saying, throwing her hands up in a definitely-exaggerated gesture of exasperation.

"And you think that's going to make it all better?" Grace said, her arms crossed in front of her breasts, "You think he'd be happy to discover exactly what you said to him?"

"And more importantly," Katie said, absently gesturing with her cup, "what would you do if he thought you were serious?"

"Hey!" Sayoko yelled in English over to the girls, who looked at her almost in unison. She pointed a thumb in a casual way to the still-bewildered college student.

"Keiichi said he's in!" She was turned enough away from him to add in a wink that only the women could see. Each of them had the most shocking look of astonishment on their faces.

"_Sayoko-san?"_ Keiichi asked, confused, _"What am I in?"_

"_Just smile and give them a big 'thumbs up' gesture for me, okay?"_ She said through her smile, _"The Americans love that."_

Obediently, Keiichi turned to the women, and gave them his biggest confident smile, and put both thumbs up. Almost at the same time, Sayoko's smile turned into as big and goofy as a smile as she could manage and imitated the gesture. The women stood still, looking completely nonplussed.

_Point, Sayoko._ She thought to herself as she put her hands down and her features returned to natural. _Flawless victory._

"_Um,"_ Keiichi said, still looking a bit confounded, _"What was that about?"_

_"Victory,"_ Sayoko breathed, some of the smile still lingering on her face.

_"I don't get it,"_ the boy said.

She patted his cheek softly, _"That's okay,"_ Sayoko answered as she walk past him to the women, _"nobody's perfect."_

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Why wasn't anything perfect? Sora had anticipated to be back home by now, and yet, here she was, warming herself in Urd's makeshift laboratory in the shed a mere ten meters from real warmth and sleep. True, it was getting warmer each day, but days like this made her wish that the jet streams or whatever urged the warmer temperatures towards Nekomi would do so post haste.

"I think we should get a game plan together," Urd said. Sora merely yawned, and the Goddess, stuck in one of her "can do" modes, took the action as an affirmative.

"We should set up a meeting," the Goddess continued, half pacing, half fretting with everything in her makeshift workspace, "Get people together and come up with some good ideas. You know, brainstorm."

Sora shrugged before staring at the door with yearning. Bed was calling to her, and she just- WHERE THE HELL DID URD GET THAT WHITEBOARD FROM?

Her brain blinked along with her eyes – How the hell did that just materialize like that? It was almost as if the Norn had a secret pocket dimension to keep playthings in!

Sora must have said something aloud, because the Norn had stopped in her attempt to remove the cap of the whiteboard marker to look apologetically at her.

"Oh, sorry." Urd shrugged, absently pushing one of her ash-white hairs from her face, "I had to shrink a few things for space in here. Thought you knew – how else could I make room for my lovely _kotatsu_?"

Sora looked at the huge table with dismay. Did that mean that, at any given time, the thing could shrink up with her underneath it? She edged herself out of the warming, cloth-ringed table with dismay.

Urd turned back to her whiteboard, and from what Sora could see, the woman was just throwing up random charts, flowchart symbols and what looked to be a Wheatstone bridge, if Sora's electronic circuits knowledge was still good.

"Now, what we need to do," the Norn said, tapping the chart with the now-capped marker, "is take effect of our synergy to maximize the overall return, heretofore known as you kicking ass at the Miss Nekomi pageant."

"What?" Sora asked, but, to her dismay, Urd seemed to be gathering steam quickly.

"First thing we need to do," the Norn went on, tapping at the Wheatstone bridge diagram for added emphasis again, "is datamine for trendsetting values, so we can maximize our gains while reducing our losses." She then drew a few lines connecting the chart to a small stick figure in the corner, with Sora wondering how the two even related to each other, "We can correlate this quotient with our average means to pull a profit from all departments."

Sora blinked, and was going to say something, but Urd superseded her with a raised finger.

"There will be time for questions at the end of this presentation." The Goddess noted, and turned back to her chart. She wiped out the chart, made the arch that had connected it to the stick figure have multiple colors, and shoved an eight-legged stick-figure horse on the apex.

An eight-legged horse? Where had the woman's twisted mind pulled that from? Maybe the white-haired woman was starting to lose it? Was it sleep deprivation on Urd's part or hers? She didn't know. Sora decided to dwell on it later, if she even remembered, that is.

"Now, we'll try to synergize our workflow, and come to a consensus," Urd said, now doodling a pie chart that looked too similar to Pac-Man. As if reading her thoughts, Urd started coloring the larger piece in with yellow, "and then we'll formulate a better algorithm with the results through various pivot tables and comparisons, therein."

Sora rubbed her eyes by snaking two fingers under her glasses and looked at the chart again. It was indeed Pac-man! Urd had even colored in an eye! Frowning, Sora stood up, cutting Urd off in mid-thought.

"I'm done." she said, yawning, "I'm going to bed before any of this starts making sense."

"But it does make sense!" Urd protested. Sora just frowned, opened the door, and slammed it behind her as loudly as she could.

It was hellishly early in the morning and, considering that she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday, the exhaustion and lack of sustenance were fraying her thin.

"Fine!" Urd's muffled voice came through the door, "You go and get sleep! I'll do all the real work while you lay on your sorry ass!"

"Okay!" Sora yelled in reply, saying it over her shoulder, "Thanks! I'm counting on you!"

She yawned again, stopping before her door to get the long, drawn out process a chance to peter out. Once she could close her mouth and open her eyes again, she turned the doorknob and let herself in.

"I'm home," she said, mindful not to yell in case Bell hadn't waited up for her return. As she pushed the door further inward, she saw Belldandy was still at the kitchen table, but her head was resting on her arms. The Goddess was dressed in her light blue pajamas, and, Sora could see, that the unruly bangs that stuck out at Bell's forehead had draped themselves over onto her arm. Near the top of the Norn's head were two carefully-wrapped plates. Sora smiled, and, upon seeing the food, her stomach growled as if it were a living beast.

Sora went into the closet and pulled out one of the blankets from under the folded-up futon. As she came out of the closet, she flicked the blanket open, went over to Bell and wrapped it around her shoulders. On impulse, Sora tenderly brushed the rebellious hair back into place, and unconsciously gave the Goddess a soft kiss on the cheek before taking her plate to the microwave for heating. She looked at the note she really hadn't noticed taped to the side, and read it.

"Tamiya said this was your favorite," the note said, "I hope you enjoy it if I'm not up by the time you get home. - Love, Belldandy"

She opened the covering, and blushed. She was going to kill Tamiya in a very slow, painful way the next time she saw him. Well, maybe not kill him, but possibly offer him a piece of chocolate laxative as if it were a chocolate bar would be better. Yes. Especially since she knew the _real_ meaning Tamiya was getting at with the fish tacos that adorned Sora's plate.

Well, food was food, and knowing Belldandy, she had outdone herself yet again. She could bet that they would be just as good nuked as they were fresh. Her mouth watered as she thought of it. With care, she timed the tacos to heat on medium for a minute and a half to get them warm and keep the tortilla shells from getting rubbery.

The microwave dinged and she opened the door, taking the food out with anticipation. As she sat at the table, she looked over again at the Goddess, her wife, and smiled in appreciation.

Sora ate the food quickly before spreading out the futon to sleep. She sighed as she noticed that the time was now 10:45. If she really wanted to, she could make it to her second class of the day.

"Screw it," she said, breaking free from the ingrained responsibility her culture had ingrained in her at an early age, "It wouldn't do myself or anyone else any good to go and sleep through the class. I'm done for the day."

She folded back the covers and went over to wake Bell up enough to put her in the bed. After some gentle coercion, the Norn allowed herself to be led to the bed. Sora pulled the covers over them, put her arm around Belldandy, and finally drifted off to sleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Keiichi couldn't believe his luck - he still couldn't decide if it was good or not, especially because the four girls trailing him seemed to have built a rapport with each other, with him as the lynchpin of it all.

It happened not too long after Sayoko offered to assist him with translations. From what he knew, _she_ should have been the one giving the tour, since she had lived in this area all her life, and she would "nudge" him to points of interest in Japanese while (from what he could tell, that is) telling the three actresses that he had suggested it. Why she insisted that he be the one designated for this job, he didn't know, and that was just as unsettling as this new alliance.

Keiichi also didn't like the fact that, once Sayoko had arrived, the level of English had gone up what seemed a thousand-fold . Maybe he was still dopey from the lack of sleep, but now instead of really understanding about half of what was being said, there were times it felt like all he could hear was "a," "the," "or" and, of course "and."

In other words: Keiichi felt left out of this whole ordeal that he had been dragged into.

He still wanted to go to the dorm, and crawl back under his covers, just like he had been doing when Otaki had barged in, pulled him out from under the covers, and told him his work needed him pronto. But if he had been there, he'd still be sulking after what he termed "the incident", and then he wouldn't have met up with Sayoko now, no matter how worse for wear he was. He mentally brushed it off and tried to think of just how to actually use this opportunity to apologize to Sayoko and possibly...

_Jeez, Kei, _Malaika scoffed, _with how long it takes you to move, even the freakin' _snails_ on that tree over there will have had _coitus uninterruptus_ a few dozen times before you even walk over to her!_

_I'm trying!_ He thought, trying to keep the frustration from showing on his face. Malaika merely snorted in a derisive way.

_Trying to turn old and gray before you make a move, you mean!_ the angel countered, _If that were me, I'd have marked you off into the dreaded "friends" column about a half an hour ago!_

Kei sighed, hoping that the foursome beside him talking about the current landmark would not be paying attention at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katie pull out her cell phone, lean over the fence, and snap a picture of something that he couldn't quite see.

_I just had an awesome idea._ Malakia said, her voice hinting at the smile Keiichi pictured on her, _You should go put your hand on her ass._

_What?_ Keiichi almost said aloud. Fortunately, all four women were looking at the thing Katie had taken a picture of, so he was safe. He regained his composure . _I like my hand. And my life outside of prison, thank you very much._

_Party pooper,_ Malaika said, sounding sulky, _But what I was getting at,_ she continued in a more somber voice, _is that you need to - I mean really - take some risks now and then. From what I've heard, you're a racer, so think of it the same way._

_True._ he replied, mulling it over, _But you know that slow and steady wins the race, right?_

_Yeah?_ she countered_, Try telling that to guys like Mario Andretti or... Or.. That other guy. The one at Ferrari. You know: The Stig._

_You mean Michael Schumacher_ Keiichi said absently, _and he's not the Stig. Wait. How do you know about the Stig or me liking racing in the first place?_

_Er_, Malaika said, sounding flustered, _Well, I'm an angel! We know this stuff! It's our job to know things like that! And now you're just avoiding the _real_ subject here! Are you going to grab her ass or not?_

_No,_ Keiichi reaffirmed.

_How about at least putting an arm around her waist?_ _You could use it like you were subtly directing her to the next spot on the tour._

_No,_ he replied again, _If I did that, I know she'd either kick me in the crotch, slap me, or do both multiple times. No._

_Heaven above!_ the angel agonized _Okay. I got it. How about putting a hand across her shoulder? Surely you can pull that off with no problem?_

Keiichi thought about it. It was a possibility. The foursome was still in a semicircle, only now each of them were taking photos with their cell phones. Whatever it was must be really interesting, so why hadn't they bothered to wave him over. As if on cue, Sayoko looked up, and realized they had completely left him out of the loop. She waved anxiously for him to join them, and he acquiesced. He tried looking over their shoulders, but even stopped over as they were, the four were still taller than he was. Keiichi tried edging to the sides, but foliage prevented him from seeing what held their attention.

"Excuse me," Keiichi said, and moved closer to the right side of Sayoko. He tentatively reached up his right arm, and put it around her gently to her left shoulder, "Sorry for the inconvenience."

_Smooooth_, Malaika scoffed _What next, "Cassanova?" a peck on the cheek for your wedding night?_

Keiichi ignored her, and looked at the point of interest. It turned out to be a several kittens around their mother cat, all nursing and, from what Keiichi remembered of his friend's feline having offspring, just born very recently.

"Aren't they adorable?" Grace said. Keiichi made a noncommittal sound. He didn't want to get attached; in an area with such high volumes of traffic, they wouldn't last more than a week, if they and their mother were lucky.

"I just want to take them home," Katie said, sounding as if she were gushing over them. After watching Katie's part as Starbuck, it still surprised him when the "tough-as-nails" jock pilot did something, well, girly, "But the hotel and customs won't let me, I bet."

"You know," Sayoko said, opening up her flip-phone, "I'm going to take them. Excuse me." She drifted off a distance, gently breaking her contact with Keiichi. Pity that, but it did give him a chance to get a better view of the kittens than just what he could see from his original odd-man-out position. Three of them were solid black, and the other two had coloring like their mother: A mottled black and orange that made them look like part of the landscape. He wondered how the women had even found the animals in the first place.

_Awww,_ Malaika said, sounding as if she were gushing herself, _They are sooo cute! Can I have one? No. Wait. Get one of the cute bundles of fur for me, so you can be my proxy! Yes, that would work wonderfully!_

_No,_ Kei thought, _I live in a dorm. The rules state no pets of any kind. Sorry._

_Oh, poo._ Malaika said. He knew she was sulking but it was the truth: No animals or friends sleeping over or even visiting family! Already, he's seen several dorm members being forced to go to a hotel for such stupid rules. Who made the rules for the dorm, anyway? After Hoshi's arrival and a few "incidents" where rules had been bent, he was starting to suspect that there were more to the rules than meets the eye.

_Maybe I can force Hoshi out by using his allergies against him._ Keiichi thought, then dispelled the idea before it could come to a plan. Knowing his luck, it would get him punted from the place instead of its intended victim. Just then, Sayoko returned, looking triumphant.

"Someone will be along very shortly," she declaimed proudly, "one of my staff is nearby and will bring them to my apartment in short order. This was met with approval from the actresses, who started suggesting names while taking a few more pictures of the felines for good measure.

_I bet you're still wondering how they can get along so well after such a rocky start,_ Malaika said. Keiichi started to nod, but caught himself and sent her an affirmative. _The thing to remember, dear boy, is that they are_ women. _One minute they will be at each others' throats, and the next, the best of friends... under the right circumstances. You, my friend, seem to be the unlucky "right circumstance" to these ladies._

_ Yeah, _Keiichi thought dismally,_ I already figured that out._

_ No, you haven't. _the angel replied, _This is much more than just a common friend or foe: This is about plots. The game, as they say, is afoot._

He knew that Malaika was just trying to get him to rise to the bait, but this time, he wasn't going to bite. Keiichi ignored her as he focused again on the debutante, who, as he looked at him, looked quickly away, back to the kittens and their mother. He just shrugged, folded his arms, and leaned against the back of a bench.

_She gave you a look_, Malaika said in a syrupy voice. Keiichi just rolled his eyes. He expected her to say more, but probably guessed that his response would be the same, so she dropped it. He knew she was still there; he could almost feel her looking through his eyes, trying to focus them onto the little balls of fuzz.

Katie said something to Sayoko that Keiichi couldn't hear, and Sayoko laughed softly. It was a wonderful sound to him - gentle yet rich at the same time. She repeated the question back to him, and he absently replied back with something.

_Really?_ Malaika said, disbelieving, _You? Not hungry? I can barely hear you in here sometimes from the sound of your stomach groaning so much._ As if on cue, his stomach made a horrific noise, and he blushed. Thankfully, the girls had been distracted as several men came over with pet carriers, carefully making their way to the mother cat and her kittens.

"I think we should go now," Keiichi said to Sayoko. She nodded after a cursory inspection of the setup and the crowd it was starting to draw before relaying his suggestion to the rest of the group. They all agreed, leaving the men to do their work.

_It's always a production with that one._ Malaika stated, _I hope you are really, really sure about this._

_About what?_ He asked. The angel chuckled softly.

_About going out with her_, Malaika replied simply, _because from here on, it's going to get a lot more interesting. _

Keiichi couldn't reply; he had none that wouldn't sound either lame or egotistical, so he just didn't say anything. Right now, there really was nothing going on between them, and from what happened previously, he wasn't sure that she would even want to continue from where they had so abruptly left off.

The angel chuckled again, but that changed nothing: He was still out of the loop between his forced-upon charges and the girl that walked away from him.

And he was tired. He stifled a yawn and ran his hand through his unruly mop of black hair.

"That's it," Keiichi murmured, dropping his hand to his side, "I'm done."

_What?_ Malaika said, her tone similar to that of someone whose mind had been adrift, _Keiichi I-_

_I said "I'm done,"_ he repeated thinking it this time, _I'm tired and hungry and..._ He sighed absently rubbing his hand through his hair again.

Suddenly, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned around and was shocked to see concern on Sayoko's face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, not taking her hand off his shoulder. It was a soft, sensation, yet it sent tingles down his spine. He tried to smile reassuringly. Sayoko still looked skeptical, but at least she wasn't going to argue with him.

"Yeah," Keiichi answered, "Just a little tired." As if to emphasize the point, he yawned, covering his mouth. "Sorry." he said sheepishly, feeling his cheeks heat. Sayoko frowned a little.

"You sure?" Sayoko said, the frown deepening slightly, "If you want to, we can cut this short."

His mind raced. A moment ago, he felt as if he wanted to just leave and now...

Now he felt that desire drain away, because he finally realized what it was that was upsetting him: It was the games. Keiichi didn't need them; they were draining him not only in mind but in spirit, and he'd had enough.

"Yeah," he repeated, "really, but if it'll make you feel better, we should get something to eat. It's lunchtime, and I'm starting to get hungry."

Sayoko smiled, removing her hand from his shoulder. To his surprise, she took him by the hand and led him over to the actresses. He felt his cheeks redden.

"I think," she said, not letting go of his hand, "that sounds like a wonderful idea."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Urd stared at her whiteboard through squinted eyes. There was something.. "Off" about the equations and one of the charts, but she couldn't be sure what. She took the capped blue whiteboard marker and tapped at the crude image of Sleipnir in thought. Maybe the rainbow bridge, or the eight-legged horse was the problem? No. She was sure that they made the connection between chart and equation perfectly. She would have to check with Baldr, and see what he thought about the situation.

"I guess I could reverse the polarities," Urd said, pushing a long strand of silver-white hair from her face, "and make the lightning and its victim pull UP into the sky instead of down..." But would that work? Would making Sora win by default of being the only remaining contestant fix the problem? For that, she'd have to speak to the Almighty and-

_Oh, thank _GOD_!_ A voice reverberated in her head, breaking her thought process, _I thought that... that _HELL_ would never end! _The voice, of course was that elusive angel of Keiichi's. She had feared that she had scared the poor thing off, but it seems that something else had happened since they last spoke.

"What happened?" Urd said aloud, "you sound as if you've been tortured and released by a demon."

Might as well have been, Mio said. She took a few audible breaths before continuing, That boy... If I hadn't been there, he would have been crushed, electrocuted, drowned and, quite possibly shot.

"Again," Urd asked, feeling annoyed with the angel, "what happened?"

_First,_ Mio said, sobbing as she slowly emerged through the door, _there was that stupid scaffolding. I mean, how did they manage not to kill anyone with so many loose bolts? Then there was the pool of water they use for some kind of machine tank._ And then...

Urd stared at the angel. Was she making this up? People aren't usually _that_ clumsy.

_It's not that he's clumsy, _Mio said, fanning herself with a hand before straightening her long, black hair, _it's the fact that the whole freaking universe seems to be out to kill him! I mean, how the hell does a bowling ball fall from a thirty-story building right into the exact place to start a chain reaction which eventually cut that specific power line, and made it start falling right into said pool _he just happened to be standing in the middle of_?_

Urd blinked "Really?" she said, dumbfounded.

_Really!_ The reply was emphasized by Mio rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. Upon looking closer, Urd could see her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying. _But that's not the important thing! What's really important is that they've taken him against his will!_

"What?" Urd said, startled, "Who?"

_Who else?_ Mio cried, tears forming in her eyes, threatening to brim over onto his cheek, _Him!_

"Ah," Urd said, nodding in understanding, "Now, who're 'they' again?"

_Argh!_ The angel exclaimed, _You're hopeless! Get your sister over here! She's more competent than you are!_

"It still didn't answer my question!" Urd snapped "How the _Hel _can I help you if I don't know _how_ to?"

This seemed to mollify the angel, and her shoulder slumped a bit. When she looked up, Urd could swear that she could feel the anger rolling off Mio in waves.

_Harlots._ Mio said, scowling, _Western harlots! They took him after he's had no sleep for three straight days! You have to help him!_

Harlots? What in the world would anyone want from Keiichi in the first place? He was average, and boring, and too straight-laced for his own good. Seriously, what would anyone want him for? It's not like his deep, brown eyes would swallow you in their profound depths, or those strong, muscular arms would...

Okay. Maybe Mio did have a point, but that didn't mean that she could trust Mio. The angel had already proved to be annoying, so what if this was some kind of prank to make Urd miserable by playing off her interest in Keiichi? She was sure that the angel still had it out for her for their first meeting.

"So," Urd bagan slowly, "About these women-"

_Harlots!_ Mio repeated, with gusto, _a congress of whores!_

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed, waving her hand in a dismissive way, "whatever. Whores. harlots, Jezebels of the modern era. Better?"

_Yeah,_ the agel replied, once again sounding mollified.

"Well," Urd began again, "these harlots; why should I be so concerned about them? I'm not his babysitter. He's a big boy that can take care of himself."

_You think so?_ Mio said acerbically, _You'd feel differently about that if you'd seen and done all I've had to do, just to keep his sorry ass in one piece!_

Urd couldn't comment - the angel was right; she had been with Keiichi, ever since he was a child, whereas Urd had known him scant weeks. If anyone's word could be taken for fact, it was definitely Mio's.

But was she just pulling Urd's chain? The Norn scrutinized the ethereal being, and saw the worry lines and nervous way Mio was looking and fidgeting. The way the angel was now idly drifting in the shack, and the little nervous ticks, which were so hard to fake without training, seemed genuine to the Goddess.

The thing that sold it, though, were the held-back tears, and the look on the angel's face. Mio was exhausted, and part of her expression carried that, punctuated by the look of someone that's been through a high level of stress until very recently.

"Okay," Urd said, leaning back and crossing her arms to stare at the angel, "Tell me calmly what's going on, and I'll help you if I can."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

OMAKE

Somewhere in Hokkaido...

Tow people are in hospital beds. One is a man, the other is a young boy. They are hooked up to intravenous drips of a saline solution to help get them rehydrated properly. The boy is sound asleep and snoring.

AOSHIMA: Thank god he's finally asleep. Hasn't shut up in forever.

Just then, a young woman comes into the room. She is wearing jeans, a white shirt and a denim jacket with the cuffs slightly rolled up. Her hair is short but feminine in cut, and has a generous smile for the man in the hospital bed.

MEGUMI: So, are you ever going to get to bed?

AOSHIMA: Can't sleep. I've been up for so long the past couple days, I am running on adrenaline.

MEGUMI (Walking over, and sitting on the edge of the bed): Still, you need to rest. Doc said that your body's stressed, and it won't get better until you get a good night's sleep or two.

AOSHIMA (Shaking head): Doesn't quite work that way with me. You'd know if you ever met my family.

MEGUMI (Crossing arms): Okay then, so you feel like at least talking to someone about what happened to you up there?

AOSHIMA (Looking away): There's nothing to talk about. I was filling up the car balloon we were going to donate to a fair, I sat in it and stupidly nodded off. When I came to, Sentaro had been hanging on the rope for hours, and I pulled him up. He was trying to be a hero and it backfired on him.

MEGUMI: That's not what I meant! I mean, how did you guys really get up there and how did you survive for so long?

AOSHIMA (Shrugging): The kid had power bars and some candy. We got water from the few low-lying clouds we went through. It was actually all the kid's idea.

MEGUMI: Uh, huh. and you did nothing at all?

AOSHIMA: All I did was sit there looking like an idiot.

MEGUMI: Sentaro says different.

AOSHIMA shrugs.

MEGUMI (Uncrossing her arms, and leans closer to AOSHIMA): Come on. Tell me. After all, I did save your asses from those seagulls that were attacking the balloon car.

AOSHIMA (Hesitating a moment, before looking at MEGUMI): You promise that you'll tell none of this to anyone? I lived through it, and I still don't believe it myself! Just agree to tell everyone else the story you already know, and I'll talk.

MEGUMI (Deep intake of breath) I promise, as long as it's not covering up a murder or something.

AOSHIMA (Nodding assent): Okay. Now, it all happened a week ago when I was leaving one of my favorite restaurants in my brand new Ferrari...


	21. Starstruck

Disclaimer: I don't own Ah! My Goddess or any of the characters therein. Please don't use without permission. Thanks again go to Davner for the book, Taskforce, Nina and Peorth for pre-reading and proofing tasks. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. And now, WillZ presents:

The Goddess and the Sky

Chapter 21

Starstruck

_Wake up, Keiichi._

He was drifting. The ambient sounds around him suffused themselves into the dim lighting, causing his sense of weightlessness to permeate what he thought of as "himself" away; away to where, he wasn't sure, but it seemed pleasant.

_C'mon, Kei,_ the voice said again, _wake up!_

He wanted to investigate this sensation, though. Where was it going to take him? Would it open up something adventurous? Insightful? Maybe if he could reach...

_Keiichi! Wake up! Sayoko's in trouble!_

Keiichi started awake, readjusting his position on the chair, so he wouldn't fall on his backside and make a spectacle of himself. He looked around to see what kind of trouble a debutante and a small collection of actresses could get themselves into in a restaurant. Fortunately, he didn't see any kind of problem, and sighed in relief.

_Good thing I woke you,_ a familiar voice said, _another moment or two would have had your ass on the floor faster than you could say "embarrassment."_

Keiichi rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. It was a little past one so, if anything, he was out for less than a minute, meaning that the rest of his group would still be in the powder room doing whatever it was they did in there. Which was fine, considering how busy the place was; they still needed for a table to free up which, after a moment of recognition from the maitre' d on who was doing the requesting, set about getting someone to handle the situation in a rather "timely" manner. To say that he was pulling three waitresses and two busboys to get two tables cleaned and pressed together said something for his urgency, even after Sayoko had assured him that they would need at least five minutes to use the aforementioned powder room. Keiichi really hoped they weren't inconveniencing current patrons to make room for their newer, more prestigious guests.

_At least they hadn't dropped any plates or glasses_Malaika said, pausing as if waiting for said noise and _tch_ed in annoyance when she hadn't invoked said response. She seemed to believe that everything worked like it did in television, which made Keiichi fight with himself to not roll his eyes again at the angel.

_Anyway,_ the angel continued, _I still think I did a bang-up job getting you to wake up in less than a minute._

_You should get a medal for your efforts,_ Keiichi replied as dryly as he could through his thoughts.

_I know!_Malaika responded back, completely missing his sarcasm, _but since I'm not fully tangible in your world, that would cause a little bit of a problem._

Or maybe she hadn't missed it. He was too tired to think too hard about it. He only hoped Sayoko and the rest would return soon.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sayoko, meanwhile was busy applying a subtle pink lipstick to her lips, trying very hard not to listen to the others in the restroom with her. Fortunately, the room was large enough for them to spread out a bit, but not too much that they'd have to raise their voices to be heard. She checked her blush to ensure that it wasn't too bold or caked on. She wanted to look professional, without having it seem like she put on her makeup with a trowel instead of a brush. It still amazed her that some women would bother to wear that much makeup in the first place - who would ever think that much would actually look good on someone,ever?

She spun the stick back into its tube and capped it, took a piece of paper towel, and blotted any excess by sandwiching the piece of material between her lips.

"Kei is cute," A voice from the other side of the restroom said in a non-committal way, "in a 'deer in headlights' sort of way."

"Really, Trish," Katie said from right next to her, "and here I thought Jon was more your type."

"Oh, he is," Sayoko saw Tricia's smile practically split her face in two, "but that doesn't mean that I can't look, does it?"

_Yes, it does,_Sayoko thought to herself, and quickly suppressed any further thought on it.

"Actually, I was hired by him to keep you out of trouble," Grace said playfully from between the two.

"Really?" Trish drew out in a long, disbelieving tone.

"Yah," Grace continued, "He's paying me about a buck-fifty an hour to make sure you eat your veggies and get a good night's sleep, too."

"It's not working." Trish commented, smirking.

"I know," Grace replied, grinning, "I'm on strike, because the benefits package sucks."

They all laughed, but Sayoko just continued with her inspection, making sure that, now that she was anywhere but school, that her appearance was spot-on perfect. It didn't have anything to do with the boy waiting for them out in the lobby. Really.

"Still," Katie said next to her, "he _is_ cute. Especially when he's sleeping."

Sayoko somehow managed to keep herself from smacking the blonde. How had she managed to see Keiichi asleep? Unless she...

"Yeah," Grace said, rolling her eyes, "the little bit of drool on the set's sofa was a real turn-on."

Ah, so that's what happened. She felt her muscles relax, and was almost startled by that revelation. Fortunately, she kept her composure, continuing as if nothing happened. She mustn't have been as successful as she thought, because Grace grinned devilishly, and popped her compact closed with a snap.

"Still," Grace said in a matter-of fact way, "I'd fuck him. How about you, Sayoko?"

"What?" Sayoko said as innocently as she could "I wasn't-"

"You so totally _were_ listening," Grace said, frowning at her, "and don't play that innocent 'I don't understand what you're going on about' crap, either! We could all see it from the get-go." The other two nodded, turning to look intently at her.

"And don't think I hadn't caught some of those death glares you give me behind my back," Tricia said, crossing her arms over her chest, "What? You think I'm trying to steal him from you?"

"I-" Sayoko began, but with three pairs of eyes looking so intently at her, she really couldn't make the excuses form.

And they had been excuses, she realized. God was she really that stupid?

The other girls must have seen all of this play through her usually calm face; they uncrossed their arms and actually looked concerned for her.

"I'm sorry," Tricia said, putting a hand gently on her shoulder, "I didn't mean to turn this into a confrontation." Sayoko smiled weakly, shaking her head.

"No," she said, "I'm sorry. It's just..." She took a deep breath. She had to explain it to someone, she realized, or the whole situation would go pear shaped. She released the breath, took another one, and told them.

"This all happened about a month or so ago..."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Keiichi sat self-consciously at the table reserved for them, looking desperately for the quartet to reappear. The waiter looked at him with disdain, most likely because tee shirts and sweats are not the ideal wear for someplace as nice as this. If he were at a ramen shop, sure, but here? What made it worse was the fact that this table was practically in the middle of the establishment and everyone not occupied with eating was looking at him as if he were some new, bizarre form of entertainment. He waved weakly at a couple that had been staring at him, and looked down at his watch yet again.

Thankfully, he was saved a long, uncomfortable wait when the three actresses and Sayoko emerged from the restrooms, still laughing and talking in such friendly terms with each other that he still wanted to escape as quickly as possible.

Malaika had excused herself, so he was alone again with his thoughts. The phrase about frying pans came readily to mind, which made his stomach rumble in protest of its neglect. As they took their seats, Keiichi leaned to his right and asked Sayoko if it was really okay for him to be in here dressed so casually. She merely pointed to the three actresses over her menu. What Keiichi saw was slightly surprising, but only because he had grown somewhat used to Katie, Grace and Trish: A small line was forming up, with several men and women coming over with notebooks or even napkins. As they approached one of the patrons asked for one or the other or all three to sign the offered paper, and each graciously did so.

"You're fine, as long as you're with them," Sayoko shrugged, looking at her menu with an indecipherable look on her face, "to be honest, I am really surprised this hadn't happened sooner." Keiichi nodded in agreement, but he believed it was more the fact that the show the women were cast in was for a niche audience, instead of the general public, but still, there should have been more people than this asking for autographs, especially for a weekend day.

"Yeah," he said finally, "It's also incredibly slow for a Saturday. I was expecting Trish and the others would have liked to see the performers in the park before heading home."

Sayoko frownedand gave him a very pointed look.

"Are you sure you're fine?" she said, staring at him so intensely, he swallowed nervously.

"Yeah," he said, breaking eye contact with her, "I just need some food, and I'll be right as rain."

"Really?" Sayoko asked.

"Yeah," he repeated lamely.

"So," she said, flipping through the menu, "that means, if I am not mistaken, that you had pulled one - if not more - all-nighters, and this group somehow roped you into their little escapade from the studio."

"Seventy-two hours" Keiichi corrected, using his menu as a shield, "And yeah. I was drafted for this."

"I'll kill them," she scowled, put her menu on the table and started to get up, but Keiichi forestalled her with a gentle hand on her wrist.

"Really, it's fine," he said, smiling weakly, "I didn't have classes today because both professors needed to go to a wedding for a mutual friend, and with no club activities until the end of the month, I'll be able to get an early night tonight. Please, this'll be my only chance to-" He closed his mouth quickly, feeling his cheeks heat in embarrassment.

"To what?" She asked, looking at him intently.

"Nothing," he replied. He needed a distraction. "So, how long do you think this impromptu signing session will last?"

"Too long," the debutante replied, scowling at the three women. She looked down in surprise at his hand on her wrist, causing him to pull it away as if she had been on fire.

"Sorry." He said lamely. She shook her head.

"Don't be," she said, smiling softly. Sayoko then opened her mouth as if to say something more, but instead picked up her menu again, and looked intently at it. They were saved by the wait staff and the head chef coming out to shoo everyone away, asking that they be given some time to eat and enjoy their meals.

"My apologies," the head chef said, bowing to the group, "Please, pick anything you desire, with my compliments."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sora awoke, feeling incredibly refreshed, considering that, when she looked at the clock, only about four hours had passed since she arrived home. The spot beside her was empty, and she could hear humming from the kitchen as she stretched - a good indication that Bell had got up for the day and was working her usual magic. Sora wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and opened the partition.

"Good morning!" the Goddess said, smiling happily as Sora sat down at the table; Bell's smile was so infectious, Sora could feel the corners of her mouth involuntarily pulling up in mimicry.

"Did you sleep well?" Belldandy continued, turning her back to Sora as she stirred the pot on the stove.

"I could ask the same of you," Sora replied, "especially when you must have been in that chair most of the night."

The Norn shrugged noncommittally, pouring some of the pot's contents into a bowl. She turned to Sora, and placed the bowl in front of her.

"I've done worse," Bell replied, "you have that happen often when you are a system administrator that is tracking down a potentially fatal bug in the system."

"Wait," Sora said, not even looking at the bowl in front of her, "I thought you said that your job was to answer the customer phones."

"I do answer the phone lines," Belldandy agreed, pouring a bowl for herself. She placed it on the table and took her seat, looking expectantly at Sora. "And you slept with your glasses on again."

Sora blinked. So, was Belldandy contradicting herself? Was she trying to deflect the question by distracting her with idle comments? Did she bend the damned frames again while she slept? She quickly took off the glasses and inspected them. The blurry lines that were the frames seem to be fairly straight, so she put them back on her face.

"But, if you answer the phones-" Sora began.

"How do I work as a system administrator?" Bell finished, "Simple: I volunteer some of my free time to help out when I can, as I can. It also helps me do my job. If I use the system, I can ensure that there are no problems that haven't been reported to the tech group."

"Ah," Sora said, nodding her head, "I see." But did that mean that the time the Goddess was spending here with her was keeping her from doing something important? The thought made Sora feel extremely guilty once again for her frivolous wish.

"Eat," Belldandy said, reaching over and pushing the bowl a bit closer to her with a smile.

Sora finally looked down at the offered consumables and blinked. She then took a deep breath and barely kept herself from crying. How did Belldandy even know that this was her favorite dish in the whole world? The soft smell, the steam emanating from the bowl before her all felt exactly like she was home again.

"How did you-" She started but the Norn merely kept smiling, and pointed to the soup.

"Eat." Bell whispered, still smiling.

And just for a little while, Sora completely forgot about all her troubles.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So, are you almost done with that analysis, Skuld?"

"Yeah. I just need to verify a few unusual data points, and I'll be able to render a full three-dimensional overlay on the area by the end of the day. Is that okay, Peorth?"

"Can you get us fourth and fifth-dimensional results, as well?"

"Define exactly what dimensions you mean, and I'll do so."

"What? They're the fourth and fifth dimensions!"

"Geez. Really? There's over twenty-nine discovered dimensions, all of which can be considered "fourth or fifth" with the exceptions of the solidly-defined first through third dimensional axes."

"Okay, okay! I get it! Just.. Give us Earth time and relative time to Heaven, okay?"

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? I'll have it all to you by the end of tomorrow, then."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Urd hummed happily as she wended from store to store, looking for the things she needed, and making a checklist of them until she could get some cash. Some things were readily available for purchase, but they wouldn't do her any good if they expired before the mail order stuff came in, so she made a note of them, as well.

_Hey,_ a soft voice said in her head, still sounding upset, _aren't we going to do something about Keiichi?_

_Oh, he'll be fine for now,_Urd replied to Mio, _You said he's eating lunch, so it's a perfect way to waste time until he emerges from the restaurant._

_And what about those harlots?_ Mio accused, _They could be doing anything to him right about now._

"I doubt it." Urd said aloud while appraising a slinky dress with a frown, then caught herself and continued through thought, _The place is packed, so even if we were able to get in, it is very likely that they couldn't do anything to him in the open like that._

_You'd think so,_ the angel said, her voice quavering a little, _but what if they're all packed so tight in there, that they're pressing their breasts against his arms?_

Urd practically dropped the dress in surprise. That was one of the moves she had planned on using on the boy the next chance she could get. Mio growled in her mind, popping into existence in front of Urd with her arms crossed and scowled at the Norn with disapproval.

_You see?_ Mio hissed _They'll have poor Keiichi in a panic in no time!_

Urd didn't think it was a panic that the women would change Keiichi's frame of mind into. Blocking out the thought as best as she could, she tried to get a bit more information from the angel.

_So,_Urd asked, putting the dress on the rack and selecting another for appraisal, _can you tell me a little about these women that are with Keiichi?_

There was a pause, but Urd heard Mio take a deep breath before giving the details to her.

_The first on__e__ is the stuck-up, snooty one that's always around campus, so I'm not going to go into detail about her or how perfect her breasts and hair are, so you'll have to picture her for yourself. The tall one, Stilt-girl, is blonde, has legs like a stork, and her boobs, while smaller than Prissy-bitch's, are__still rather firm and perky. The other blonde has a decent rack to her, but her hips and lips are what's got Kei's attention right now. And as for the Asian girl, well, she's flatter than a washboard in comparison to the foreigners, but she's still better stacked than the average girl her age._

Urd blinked at the descriptions.

_So,_ she said carefully, _you've described hardly anything about these women to me, other than the size of their boobs, and their overall sex appeal. Could it be-_

_I know what you're going to say,_ Mio moaned, her hands going up to cover her face, but not before exposing a radiant red blush to Urd, _but it's not like that. Really. It's just that, being tied to a guy, kinda makes you see things from _his_ perspective. It's not like I want to think like that, or anything!_

Urd nodded. It must be difficult for the angel to have to be there, even when Keiichi needed some "private time" to himself.

_You do understand!_ Mio cried, her eyes filling with tears. Urd couldn't do anything, so she just nodded again, which caused a store associate to come over to her.

"Can I help you with anything?" the girl said hopefully. Judging by the price tag on the dress that Urd held in her hand, the woman would make a rather large commission, if it were purchased.

"Yes," the Norn replied, "Would you happen to have this in cobalt blue?" She held the garment away from her, "Because even though green is a nice color, it so does not go with the attire of everyone else I will be with."

"Unfortunately, we don't," the woman said, slightly panicked, "but if we can get your measurements, we'd be able to get one to you by the end of the week."

"That'll be too late," Urd said, frowning. "Thanks, anyways."

"We have others," the woman said, wringing her hands, but Urd merely gave her a glare which punctuated that she had had her chance, so the clerk all but ran back to her little clique. The Norn left the store as haughtily as she could.

She walked like that until she rounded the corner, before returning to her normal, longer gait. With that out of the way, she turned her attention back to the Angel drifting alongside her.

"We're going the wrong way," Urd said, forestalling the angel, "because I want to avoid that place again. We'll walk around the block and watch from the other intersection, where I can get a crepe."

_Food again?_ Mio said incredulously _No wonder why your bust is almost the size of a cow's!_

"I can't help it," Urd said aloud again, "all that fat just goes right to my tits!"

It was then that she noticed that several of the men around her had all stopped to stare at her. She scowled, flushed a bit at forgetting herself, and stalked away as quickly as she was able.

_Thanks,_Urd scowled at the angel floating a few feet in front of her, who merely shrugged noncommittally. If she could just wrap her fingers around Mio's intangible neck…

_So, still going to get that crepe?_ The angel asked, becoming fully visible as they were about to round the corner near the vendor. Urd almost growled at Mio, but stopped when she saw the angel's gaze was now focused on the restaurant Keiichi and the others were now in.

_No,_ she thought, _I think it'll be best to wait it out. They should be out sometime soon._

_Yeah,_ Mio nodded for emphasis, but still, her gaze was not leaving that building._ Are you sure we can't just go in and fry everyone?_

_It's not how it's done nowadays,_Urd replied, _If anything, we'd – well, I anyway – would be seen as someone that needs to be locked up. Let's just sit back and wait. It's not like they can spend all day in there._

_You're right, _Mio's thoughts carried a hint of a sigh, _Let's go find a bench somewhere nearby, and wait it out._

With that in mind, they implemented their plan of action, not realizing that they would not be seeing Keiichi's exodus from the building.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sayoko could not believe it; they had somehow managed to eat and escape without any stragglers. Were these women miracle workers? No, it was likely the crowd had been diverted by the wait staff after her group had been given dessert. She made a mental note to have someone go down and ensure that everyone in the restaurant got a substantial tip for their efforts.

It didn't hurt that Keiichi had looked on the offerings from the chef as a godsend. What were they feeding him in that god-awful dorm, that such average food was looked at as a top meal? She shook herself mentally, noting that her own view was skewed by how spoiled she had become.

In regards to Keiichi: she spared the boy a glance from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be getting paler and more frazzled the more they pushed on in this absurd "tour" they were on. Was his hair always that unkempt? She didn't think so; the last time she had seen him, it had been unruly on the top middle of his head, but now, it seemed as if his hair were trying to become sentient.

Sayoko shook her head and focused on the bigger picture. It's been about five hours, give or take a few minutes, and the other girls seemed almost obsessed with keeping Keiichi from returning home. She should force them to give over, yet if she did that, wouldn't her time with Keiichi be lessened, as well? The spoiled part of her did indeed want to stay with him, but _only_ him. How would she even accomplish that with the way he was slowly coming undone? Why was she even thinking it in the first place?

She slowed her pace until Keiichi caught up to her. The actresses had gotten a little ahead of them, so they could look into one of the gaudy souvenir shops that littered the street. She wondered which one of them would buy the "I'm with stupid" shirt written in kanji and passed off as something like "courage" or "strength" to give to their boyfriend.

"You sure you don't want to call it quits?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her back, and tilting her head slightly as she looked at him.

"I'm good," he replied, yawning to belie that statement, "the food'll keep me going for another few hours, easily."

She gave him a skeptical look, "Really?"

"Yeah," he replied, "and even then, I still wouldn't give up the opportunity not to spend time with you-you guys." His face went flush as he turned away from her in embarrassment. She grinned at him before replying.

"Well then," she said, "anywhere you'd like to take them, since I suggested the restaurant?"

He stopped suddenly, tilting his head as if listening to something. She was about to repeat herself when he turned to look at her.

"We could always take them to the museum," he said, smiling crookedly. She almost shuddered, remembering that horrid, virulent outfit he had first approached her in. Sayoko opened her mouth to protest.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Keiichi continued, putting up his hands, shaking them slightly as if to forestall her comment, "but we might want to swing by the place sometime closer to supper; they have a new outdoor display that might be interesting."

"So, you have no idea where to take them next?" Sayoko asked, "Wait. Supper?"

Keiichi shrugged, "Since I've been with them practically since the crack of dawn, might as well make it an all day thing."

Seriously, where was he getting his stamina from? Most people, as polite as their culture is, would have drawn the line somewhere by now, especially after working the shift from hell. Instead of calling him on it, Sayoko exhaled sharply, annoyed.

"Besides," Keiichi continued, "I do have an idea in mind. I thought we could do a full walking tour of most of the city. You know, take in the street vendors, some of the local shops and whatnot? Hopefully, it'll keep them entertained and possibly release some of their pent-up energy from being confined for filming."

"If that's the case," she said, moving closer to him, "I have one more place to take us."

"Oh?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow slightly in curiosity, "Where?"

She pointed to the local coffee house. "There," she replied, "If you're going to keep this pace up, you're going to at least have a double-shot of espresso. I'm not going to drag you all over town until I get caffeine in you."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sora was most likely at home, probably feeling sorry for herself, or so Urd believed. Her mood was not improving with all the males that seemed to stare at her as she sat on the uncomfortable bench as close as she'd dare get to the restaurant. Her ass ached and she was sure that three of the guys that walked by looked uncomfortably familiar. She couldn't confirm it, but she was sure at least one of them might have been close to her when she had made that comment about fat and her anatomy.

Mio paced back and forth from one end of the bench to another. Well, pacing was not the word, but as close to it as an incorporeal being like angels could get. It was closer to drifting than anything else, but it sure had the same feel as if she was going from one end to the other in impatient strides.

Urd resisted the urge to blow at the angel, to see if she would just drift away.

_Where are they?_ Mio said, unconsciously wringing her hands. _They should have come out by now._

_Why don't you go look, then?_Urd thought, feeling annoyed. Their waiting was definitely a bust, because there is no way a place like this would keep anyone waiting for over two hours, and still have the type of traffic it did.

The angel had stopped in her pacing, looking thoughtful.

_You think I should?_

_YES!_Urd thought aloud, again, wishing she could just strangle the angel right then and there.

_Okay, okay. Yeesh_. Mio said as she vanished from sight. Was this really how Keiichi was? If an angel was the representation of a person's soul...

No. The dynamic was different; the angel seemed more like the stories of "guardian angels" people had been talking about since time immemorial. What if those stories actually had a grain of truth to them? It was something to think about. Maybe she should ask the Almighty? She had so many questions for him, she had no idea where to begin! Like, why the hell had he never thought to tell the other gods and goddesses in Heaven about this? In her mind, her list of people she wanted to strangle out of sheer frustration with them had increased by one.

She just wanted to get back to her ingredients, so she could-

_They're gone!_ Mio's thoughts echoed in Urd's mind, almost as if they had been screamed at full volume. She winced, glaring at the returned annoyance.

_Any idea of where they went?_Urd asked, debating whether to just give up, or to actually find the boy. The angel shook her head.

_Che._ The sound was one she'd picked up after watching anime in her free time not watching her soaps. Scowling she turned away from the restaurant.

_Where you going?_ Mio asked, frantically gesturing for Urd to stop. The goddess passed through Mio without a second thought. _Wait!_

At that moment, someone grabbed Urd's arm. She spun, to see one of the guys that she suspected to be stalking her. her face flushed not from embarrassment, but anger.

"Wait, Miss," The gentleman said, holding something out to her.

"You dare?" Urd hissed. Her hair whipped around her as she gathered the power of a full-force lightning blast. Before the guy could recover from his surprise, Urd pointed a finger at him, and he was hit with enough electricity to knock him out for days.

"Don't follow me!" she said, storming off. She ignored the wake of stunned people she left behind her.

_Y-You blasted him!_ Mio sounded dumbstruck. _And look at what you're doing to all those people you're walking past! I hope nobody's got a pacemaker!_

_Just shut it,_Urd seethed. She wanted to go back and give him another blast - this time, right to his crotch.

_But-_

_I don't care._

_You-_

_I said I don't care! Wrong place, wrong time! He's lucky he didn't do anything fresh, or he'd be living with a permanent twinge! _Urd stalked home, taking long, purposeful strides. She was going to find stupid Keiichi and save his ass, even if he didn't need it.

It was now personal.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Peorth stood, arms crossed, in front of her wide-area display, analyzing the information she currently had available to her. The fluctuating blues-and-greens moved in an almost rhythmic manner, while still being random. Occasionally a bubble of blue or green would break free from the visual, but dissolve quickly after as she stared at the raw data from the anomaly on Midgard. She was still annoyed at Skuld for her attitude, but knew that Skuld was on loan from a different branch because of her insane amount of technical know-how, and thus didn't know about the procedures Peorth knew like the back of her hand, so she cut the younger goddess some slack in regards to her quirks.

Was Skuld just messing around? No - Peorth wouldn't have allowed her to even look at one of the consoles if she didn't have both the appropriate clearance and the skill set involved to operate one.

As it was, she had had to ask the girl twice now to not redesign the interfaces off the fly, even if they were easier to operate than current, pre-Skuldified one, merely because it threw her fellow employee's frame of thinking off completely.

Not that she hadn't saved copies to pass around during the next refit of the OS. The changes would - if everyone was trained on them properly, that is - increase efficiency and effectiveness significantly.

But enough of that thought; she had _this_ puzzle to unwrap before something unexpected happened. She was till glad that the third-class spirit Erdgeist had acted as a "bouncer" for the area until several of Heaven's best and brightest could get down there and seal off that area. Even now she was surprised that he had come up with such an eloquent way of doing it.

The group had, on suggestion of one of the data analysts, hid the anomaly as if they were hiding a column of cells in a data worksheet. The space was visually compressed to the eye, so only if you knew it was there, not even a god or demon could locate it without expending a huge supply of energy. As it was, Yggdrasil was dedicating one whole processor just to continue the illusion, and would do so until they could come up with a better solution.

Peorth frowned as she saw three more bubbles escape, but this time, instead of disappearing, long tendrils of blue-green reached out and pulled them in. The disturbing way the bubbles seemed to be struggling to escape made Peorth shudder.

"Can someone replay that in infrared and ultraviolet data overlays for me?" She asked, slightly turning to see the rows of consoles behind her.

"Yes, Ma'am!" one of the elder Operators said, raising his hand so she knew which console to receive the data from. In less than three minutes, the replay, in a thirty second loop, showed up on her screen. The blues and greens were swapped with orange and red, showing the whole mass in subtle shades throughout, but overall, it reminded her of a lava lamp.

She watched the bubbles escape again as peach-like orbs, and hit the slow-motion button. Frame by frame, she saw a deep red from within the core of the anomaly spread throughout the whole mass, before launching blood-red tendrils at the bubbles.

"Almighty," Someone behind her whispered,

Peorth could only nod in agreement.

With the bubbles now captured, the red color started to spread through their captives until they finally were absorbed into the main mass, and it took on that lava lamp pattern once more.

So, what was the thing trying to do? Peorth resisted the urge to send Lind and several other Valkyries to Earth to just wipe the thing from existence, consequences be damned.

As if reading her mind, the line for the Almighty lit up. With a sigh, she picked up the phone, dreading the earful she was expecting to get.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ichirou Yanagida, Buddhist priest extraordinaire, slowly polished the floor with care. He knew the place was getting run down and shoddy in spots, but he was a priest, and the skills needed to do even simple carpentry were beyond his capabilities. Maybe he would hire some kid to come fix it one of these days, but all of them that he'd seen always seemed shifty, and some of them couldn't even keep their pants on properly! Had these young fools ever heard of a belt?

He sighed and scowled at the reflection of himself on the floor. Did his opposite in the reflected world have to worry about these young kids, or was he content with just polishing the floor until his own reflected self caused the philosophical debate to continue on another thread?

He didn't continue the thread of thought though; two people, a man and a woman came through the gate. They looked like a nice enough couple until he saw the remaining three people behind them.

They were all tall, gorgeous woman.

Ichirou blinked, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again. It seemed as though all the women were stunningly beautiful, and focusing on the boy who had now taken the lead.

He was short, even for a Japanese man and his hair was incredibly unruly, almost as if he hadn't slept, but Ichiro looked closer and saw all the signs he hated so much.

Drugs.

Harlotry.

Anarchism.

And worst of all, was the arrogance. The pure, sheer arrogance that the man could make these poor women, his slaves, cater to his every beck and call! Angered at the desecration of this holy place, the priest stood up as quickly as his old knees would allow, threw the cloth to the ground in disgust and stomped - well, hobbled, actually - over to the group.

The young man bowed politely and started to say something, but Ichirou was not going to stand for any of his lip! When the man stood back up, he was met by the palm of Ichirou's left hand.

"How dare you!" The priest screamed, putting his left fist on his hip, and pointing accusingly with his right finger, "You have no right!"

"Excuse me?" The youth said, rubbing the side of his face while looking nonplussed. The priest's eyes looked at the women around this heathen.. What was the word? Blimp? No.. Pimp! That's it - pimp! This pimp was trying to intimidate him out of his money, or even worse, desecrate the property with their unholy acts!

"You heard me!" he said, feeling his blood pressure rise, "I'm talking about you're drug-addled eyes! They do not have the proper affection towards Buddha! We do not want your business here!"

"What's going on, Keiichi?" the very beautiful Japanese woman next to the man asked. The man, supposedly named Keiichi merely shrugged! Shrugged at the obvious lie his life was! This young man..!  
"You manwhore!" the priest bellowed, barely noticing the boy's silent repeat of the word in question. For some reason, the woman next to him covered her mouth, looking as if she were going to cry. The other girls looked perplexed still, but that was not going to prevent the priest from doling out divine justice!

"How dare you desecrate this wholly holy place!" The priest was now shaking his finger in an accusatory way at the man, "That hair! Those drug-addled eyes! And the worst, the ABSOLUTE WORST part is the harlotry! These poor girls-" he pointed at the women for emphasis, noting happily that they all now had their mouths covered in shame, "these poor girls will now be lifted from the life of slavery that you placed them under!" He put his hand down now, placing it on his hip, "I give them sanctuary! You are freed, lovely ladies! You do not have to deal with this harsh lifestyle any longer!" He opened up his hands in a welcoming gesture and closed his eyes, smiling, "Come! Come to salvation!"

After a moment's silence, Ichirou heard the sound of a giggle being stifled. He opened one eye, just in time to see the Japanese girl in business attire lose control and start bursting out laughing. The others followed suit, but the boy was still staring, confused.

Something snapped inside Ichirou.

"You," he said, breathing hard, "You..."  
"Hai?" the dark-haired druggie said. The drugs were strong in this one.

"You wastrel! What the hell do you think you're doing in this sacred place?" The priest's outcry of anger just made the girl that was laughing almost collapse to the floor in laughter. Ichirou could feel his whole face turning red - all the way up to his well-polished dome.

"um..." The pimp said. Without thinking, Ichirou picked up the broom resting against the fountain, and smacked the boy on the head with it.

"Out!" He bellowed, "Out, foul spot!" He smacked the druggie pimplord on the head again, "You may not pass Go!" another hit, "You may not collect two hundred dollars!" another hit, this time to the stomach, "And _you can't has cheeseburger!_" He followed this last, ominous-sounding English threat off with a rapid succession of hits to the evil bastard's legs, stomach, arms and head.

The collection of sluts came to the rescue of their depraved lover, Ichirou gave a bellow and raised the broom above his head. Faster than thought, the hellish cluster made their retreat,

"Begone foul demon!" the priest bellowed as he raised his broom to chase after the retreating, well, demon and his coven of hussies, "Begone from this holy place! GET THEE OFF MY LAWN!"

And with that, the group disappeared around the corner of the path.

"FORNICATOR!" He yelled behind his shoulder, too satisfied by half to chase after the pack of hellspawn. With a nod, he bunched up his priestly attire and returned to his home.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Peorth put the receiver down and frowned. It had not been a good talk with the Almighty, yet it hadn't been as bad as she had feared. If anything, things were still the same in terms of insights and support from the All-father, but that was to be expected, given his overall stance on interfering with everyone that wasn't him. True, it garnered frustration and sometimes outright anger from everyone else in the universe, but it was a good policy; you couldn't encourage free will if you either helped people into dependency, or lorded over them into subjugation. It was still interesting that she could find-

The phone rang again. Listening to the soft chime it emanated, she knew it was not one from Heaven, so it had to be that odd monk she had conscripted to her cause. She sighed again, and picked up the receiver.

"How may I help you, Ichirou?" she said into the mouthpiece. She could almost hear the priest freeze in shock.

"M-Mistress," the old fart stammered. Peorth kept from rubbing her temple as she let him continue with "how did you know it was me?"  
"Did it ever occur to you," she sighed, "that you might have been the only person to receive this number?"

"No," the priest said, sounding awestruck, "how ingenious! I shall have to keep that in mind in my endeavors!"

This time, instead of rubbing her temples, the Goddess First Class just covered her face with one hand and tried (and failed) to keep from sighing yet again.

"Yes, yes," she said, regaining some of her composure, "I assume that you have had success finding the boy, _non_?"

"Well," the priest said, his voice getting a quavering sound to it, "not yet, because I have been unable lately to leave the shrine. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been but moments since I chased a fornicator and his harlots away from this holy place."

Harlots? Was this guy really serious? With the way this guy talked, it was likely the two Earthbound Norns the lunatic was talking about.

"Yes, yes," she said again, really wishing that she could just hang up on the guy.

"The reason I called Mistress," the priest continued, "was because I am at a loss. You have given me a name and a basic description, but how, pray tell, am I able to find him without some sort of photograph? I cannot pursue that which I cannot know fully."

Ah! A reasonable request. She snapped her fingers at one of the passing interns, and wrote down the information quickly for the intern to pass to one of the sysadmins. The God nodded, and took off as quickly as he could.

"I'll be sending you something shortly. Be looking at your fax machine in-" she glanced over and saw the recipient of her note make a "three" with her fingers, "three minutes. Is that all?"  
"Yes, Mistress. Thank you, Mistress." The priest intoned. She could picture the idiot bowing to the phone.

"Okay then," she said, trying to suppress her eagerness to end this call, "Good day to you."

She hung up the phone before receiving a reply - she really did not want to talk to him any longer. If she was lucky, though, the picture she was sending him would lead to the location of the boy sooner, and then she wouldn't have to deal with him ever again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ichirou hung up the phone and went to the fax machine that he barely ever used. He sat there a moment before it started making sounds. After the noise died down, a piece of paper started to come out of the machine. After a good two minutes, the machine finished, and he picked up the paper. Odd, how nothing was on it.

Then he remembered that the person who gave it to the temple noted that it printed face-down, so he picked up the paper, and flipped it over.

There, smirking his evil grin was that... Gigolo! The PIMP was the one that he was to look for?! No!

In a panic, he raced down the dirt path as fast as his ancient legs would take him, hoping beyond hope that he would catch up to the man and then...

And then what? Apologize? _IF_ he must, but he really should tell Peorth-sama about this first! As he ran, he struggled to get the phone out of his robe pocket.

Kami-sama or Buddah, let him catch them soon!

Sooner than he thought, he had made it to the bottom! He looked left and right for the group he had recently chased out of his home, but there was no trace of them.

"No," he whispered. A cold wind picked up at that moment and forced the paper in his hand free. He looked at his hand stupidly, blinked, then clenched and unclenched his hand.

"NOOOOOOO!" he screamed, clenching his fists together and collapsing to his knees. How was he going to explain this to Peorth-sama? He shivered, but not from the cold.  
That's it! He just wouldn't tell her! He had a sharp mind, and his wits have saved him countless times! He would just endeavor to find the harlots and their manslut on his own.

With a game plan running through his mind, he headed back to the temple to start his preparations.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Erdgeist, Spirit third class in the service of the Almighty and guardian of Leyline 856986 sulked from his position atop the "tea parlor". Until about three hours ago, he and his now-immobile compatriot had been preventing delinquents, dogs, rats and other oddities from entering a close proximity to the bizarre thing he had been ordered to protect. From here, all he could see was the seamless merger of the two buildings that sandwiched the alley that housed the blob-like mass, and nodded his approval as he remembered watching the gods and goddesses place the magic sigils that made it go away. How did they-

"Mommy?" the voice behind him intoned in its inhuman manner. Erdgeist turned to look over his left shoulder at the mechanical, one-eyed robot.

"Not yet," he replied, making some soothing noises. Up until the machine-man had touched the thing, it had been learning comprehension at a rather alarming rate. And then...  
"Mommy." the thing intoned. nodding its head once in emphasis.

"Soon, kiddo," Erdgeist agreed. He couldn't wait to see Sora either, especially if Erdgeist could convince the robot to try to run up to her and give her a hug.

He still wondered if she would faint from fright first, or lack of oxygen, when the chrome, childlike machine knocked the breath out of her. So far, he was hedging his bets in favor of the fear factor.

Now that the deception was in place, he could relax. Should he return back to the place that he considered home, or should he return to his duties? With a thought to the chrome monstrosity behind him, he decided that a patrol might not be the wisest decision at this time. Maybe in a few hours, but this led again to if he really wanted to take the robot home, or just ditch it? True it was useful to have around, but he didn't know how to explain to the Goddess awaiting his report that his compatriot had now been returned to the mentality of a small child.

Maybe Urd will know what to do, If anything, she did boast that her younger sister could repair anything, so maybe the poor thing's lost memory could be restored by whatever voodoo those technical people do? It was a slim hope, but it was a hope nonetheless.

Standing up, he walked over to the motionless creature before him, its single eye sliding from left to right, almost in the same pulse as a heartbeat.

"Mommy?" it intoned again. The first thing he would see about getting fixed was that voice though - the ominous, electric monotone did not fit the words emanating from its mouth, for lack of a better word.

"Yeah. We're going home," Erdgeist replied, "but first, we're going to see Auntie Urd, so she can take a look at you, or at least call someone that can make sure you're okay." The robot nodded, and in a heartbeat, both had phased into the nearby Leyline to make their way home.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Well, today was definitely far from boring, Sayoko had to admit. She had been volunteered as translator, almost stampeded at lunch, assaulted by a broomand finally escaped to the bus station to get the majority of their impromptu tour group on the bus to Tokyo.

Truthfully, Keiichi was the one that had been smacked by that archaic broom, but it didn't mean she couldn't sympathize withhim at all. Sayoko still couldn't understand what had possessed the old guy to start ranting as if Keiichi and the rest were demons from the underworld. Sure, Kei was a little rough around the edges, but considering his lack of sleep, his appearance did hold up in most places they had been to today.

The sound of a yawn made her look over at the person in question. There was no doubt now that he really was going to crash hard soon. Sayoko was kicking herself mentally for getting him that espresso not too long ago. Everything about Keiichi just screamed that he wanted to just curl up right here at the station stairs and sleep for several days straight.

And yet, he smiled. Sayoko was certain that it was just how he felt, and not some weird trance-like state he had entered.

"That was fun," he said, still smiling as he turned to her, "I just hope it doesn't become the norm."

Sayoko lifted an eyebrow slightly, and Keiichi coughed once, flushing.

"With my luck," he continued in answer to her unasked question, "I bet that I'd fail the semester from being roped into their personal tour guide on a constant basis."

"It won't happen." Sayoko said without pause.

"Maybe," Keiichi shrugged for emphasis, "but the Law of Murphy..." He shrugged again.

Sayoko started to nod, before catching herself. What happened to the cheerful guy she had been seeing? She could see him, true, but it seemed as if the poor guy was running low on even his seemingly endless optimism.

At that moment, they started towards the escalator for the subway, and Sayoko thought the poor guy was going to do a perfect nose dive right into the marble floor until he caught himself by straightening up and twisting until he caught the safety rail.

"You okay?" she asked reaching a hand out to his shoulder.

"I'm not sure," he replied, not looking at her a moment, "I think I might have smacked into the rail a bit too hard." Sayoko did think his breathing had become a bit more ragged.

"Let me look," she said firmly. Keiichi turned to her, his cheeks getting redder by the moment.

"Here?" he fumbled, after a moment of gaping like a fish out of water, "In front of everyone?"

"There's nobody here," she countered. Seeing that she spoke the truth, and that his slipup hadn't drawn the usual rubbernecking from people, he lifted his shirt enough for her to see his side.

Thankfully, Keiichi seemed to be built - not body-builder built, but rather the kind of build one gets from having to haul around heavy mechanical equipment quite often. She blinked her eyes, keeping her thoughts from drifting down dangerous avenues she did NOT want to go down at this point, and examined the location of the wound.

She didn't see anything but a slight red spot, but that didn't mean that something could be wrong. She looked up at Keiichi with a reassuring smile.

"I'm going to press on it lightly. Tell me if it really hurts and I'll stop. It's better to see now if it's a broken or bruised rib, so we can get you to the hospital."

Keiichi nodded, still breathing raggedly. Sayoko's fingers pressed gently at the last two ribs on the lower side, and felt nothing move. Keiichi's breath caught, but he didn't say anything, so she pressed a bit more. Keiichi grunted and she stopped.

"How does it feel?" she inquired, stepping back from the injured Keiichi.

"It feels like a pulled muscle," he answered, "because every time I breathe out, it's fine, but when I inhale, it feels like someone's poking me hard in the side."

"Good," Sayoko said, "from what I can tell, nothing's broken. We'll keep an eye on it for a while and if it doesn't feel better in an hour, we'll go to the hospital." He looked as if he was going to protest but she put her finger on his lips, making his eyes widen, "no arguing."

To her surprise, there was no argument. Every other male she had ever known was usually argumentative and stubborn when it came to even the smallest injury. Was it the exhaustion? Adrenaline? She almost gave him her best questioning gaze, hoping that he wasn't lying to her, but since his discomfort was plain on his face, it was very unlikely that he would try to fib his way out of a hospital trip.

"Come on," she said, extending a hand to him, "Let's get somewhere a bit more comfortable."

Which is why, twenty minutes later, they were driving out of Nekomi, chatting idly about nothing in particular.

"So," Keiichi said after a small silence, "What are you going to be doing after college?"

Sayoko gave him a look. The answer was obvious but still...

"What I mean," Keiichi continued after seeing the annoyed glare, "what I mean, is what exactly will you be doing - Management? R&D? Marketing? You haven't really mentioned where in the company you were hoping to place yourself, before."

"Actually," Sayoko said, downshifting the McLaren a gear before continuing around a rather sharp corner, "I would love to do the R&D, but I am betting my father wants to make me the General Manager of one of the branch facilities."

"Ah," Keiichi said, sounding a bit downcast to her. She spared a quick glance at him while navigating the twisty roadway leading around the base of the mountain. He really did look sad to hear the news.

"Well, what about you?" she asked, after another short silence, "Got any plans? Maybe some world domination?"

"Nothing to speak of," he replied. To Sayoko, it's almost as if she could read the shrug in his words. She shifted up a gear and released the clutch, and he continued, "But I do have some hopes of possibly getting an internship at BMW for my junior year. Maybe even Yamaha, if they're still looking for people by then."

"You're thinking of travelling abroad?" Sayoko said, easing her foot off the break as they started to coast down the road a ways, "I thought you'd want to stay close to home."

"Home is in Hokkaido," Keiichi said, "Not much to see or do, unless you want to play Mahjongg or fish, and I have never really been the fisherman type."

"Small town boy?" she smiled as she said it, "I'm really surprised. I thought you had come from one of the suburbs when I first met you."

"The town we live in is small, true," Keiichi replied dryly, "but my mother plays pro Mahjongg, and so the whole family's been all over the islands. Wish we would have gone to Osaka more though, there was this place that makes okonomiyaki to die for."

"As good as those from Sapuro's on fifth and 1234?" She asked, skeptically.

"Yes, and though it's different, I think both would hold up against each other in a battle royal."

"So, maybe we should go there sometime," Sayoko said, "I'm always looking for good food when I am away from home." She kept her face from scrunching up. When was the last time she had been home? It seemed like years, even though it was closer to months. Between work and college, she had been quite busy lately. She popped the clutch, and they were off again on the straightaway.

After that, the conversation slowly became non-existent as they both enjoyed the quick pace the supercar made. Fortunately, the sun still peeked over the horizon, so all the nocturnal fauna wouldn't be active quite yet. As they sped on the four-mile road, she could see the grin on Keiichi's face widen the more she put her foot on the pedal.

Two minutes later, she was downshifting again in anticipation of the quickly-approaching turn. Sayoko decided to use this chance to ask Keiichi something she had been wondering about for a while now.

"So," she began, coaxing the car around the corner so it barely felt like it was throwing you through the body panels, "what's up with you and those foreign girls?"

Keiichi looked nonplussed, "What?" he asked, the look mutating to one of him being somewhat dismayed.

"I asked you," she said, flicking the wheel the other way as the corner fed into another going the opposite way, "what is up with you and those foreign women?"

"Foreign women?" he blinked in answer, "You mean Urd and Belldandy?"

"Yeah," she put her foot on the brake to slow down as the next in sequence was sharper than the previous two, "The one you never formally introduced me to, especially."

He paused a moment, before speaking.

"Belldandy - the one you met while she was sleeping - is married to Sora Hasegawa, a friend from the Auto Club and a Freshman," his face flushed as he said this, showing his discomfort, "and Urd is her sister, apparently here both for business, and to see her sister after her marriage."

"Seriously?" she said, glancing at his face for some sort of hint that he was not telling the truth, "So Sora was the one she was here to see?"

"Yeah," he said, still somewhat embarrassed.

"I see." she replied, mulling it over a moment. That wasn't too long ago, was it? About three? Four months now? No, it was about a month or two, and looking back, she had been almost as bad as her cousin with her holier-than-thou attitude towards everyone and everything. When _had_ she changed from that obnoxious brat? Probably about the time her cousin had been stupid with Belldandy; she had to admit that him attempting something so foolish had been a real wake-up slap in the face.

Before her thoughts could go black, though, Keiichi brought her attention back to the present.

"Sayoko?" He asked in a surprisingly gentle voice.

"Yes?"

"Well," he said, clasping his hands together, most likely trying to prevent himself from rubbing the back of his head nervously, she thought, "I just wanted to say 'thanks.'"

She blinked, "For what?"

"For helping me out today," he said, "I'm almost certain that they actually roped me in to be their pack mule, using the excuse of me being their tour guide." He shrugged, but continued, "I'm almost certain there were points where they had been teasing me, too, but..." He just shrugged again.

"You're welcome," she replied, pulling over to one of the longer embankments to look at him fully. How was it that someone so disheveled could actually seem more attractive than some of the more polished guys she had dated up until now? "I'm sure their hearts were in the right place. For actresses."

The last bit made him laugh a bit, and with it, the mood that had been building in her had dissipated. Seeing that both of them felt better, she put the car in gear, and took off again towards the city.

After a few minutes of small talk, she noticed that it had gotten rather quiet. She looked over and was ready to ask Keiichi if he was okay, but saw him fast asleep; the arm that had been braced against the window and clutching the "panic strap" in a casual manner was now being used as a pillow.

She drove back towards his dorms, mulling over everything that has happened since that day she saw him next to the sleeping girl. He was so unlike every other guy she had to deal with in her social circle, that if she were to compare them, she couldn't begin.

And that was a good thing.

Why was she thinking about him so much? She remembered thinking about him not only during their first date, but also... Agh! She was doing it _again!_

But still…

She shifted down a gear, taking the more "gentle" approach home, since she really didn't want to wake Keiichi if she didn't have to.

After a while, the street lights started to come on as twilight crept up. Odd, since it didn't seem like they had been driving for that long. She put on her lights and slowed down even further. The last thing she needed to do was hit a moose or whatever large wild creatures she didn't care to look up roamed the countryside.

So now what? It was certain that poor Keiichi had reached his limit a while ago, but she didn't want to let go of him right then. She found herself decelerating, and taking as many out-of-the-way streets as her car was capable, but even then, she found herself stopped about a quarter of a mile from the men's dormitory, debating whether she should wake him now, or whether she should wait until they actually were in front of his door.

No, that wouldn't do; if she was to stop there, then she wouldn't be able to get anything else out of him than a "goodbye" at the most.

But that's not what she wanted. She felt her cheeks flush as she made herself more flustered than she'd admit, if Keiichi were to awaken at that moment...

"You're right, Grace," Sayoko said under her breath, barely aware she was saying it, "I'd fuck him." She gently brushed a hand through his hair, leaned over and gave the sleeping figure a kiss on his forehead.

She could still feel the flush on her face a good ten minutes later. When she had cooled her thoughts down enough so that her cheeks didn't feel so heated, she decided to wake Keiichi up. With a quick pop of the clutch and a quick step on the brakes, the car moved just enough to make Keiichi's hand slip slightly, jostling him awake.

"Well, here we are," _Where do we go from here?_ Sayoko said, forestalling Keiichi's surprised, fumbling look from being expressed in words, "back at the dorms."

"Ah," Keiichi said clumsily, "thanks."

"Any time," _But for how long?_ She replied, smiling, _I can't wait too long._

"So, I'll see you..." He started but rubbed the back of his head in confusion.

"Tomorrow?" _Will I be able to wait?_ She asked.

"Ah!" he answered, looking happier.

"Great!" _God, why am I so impatient?_ She replied, "Call me?" For a moment, she thought he might have forgotten her number, but after an unconscious pat of his back pocket, he looked relaxed.

"Yeah," he said, and yawned, "Once I wake up. It might be late-"

"I know," _What's with me?_ She said cutting him off, "I was there. It's okay if you call late. Go. Rest. Now." She pointed with a stern look at his dorm, but the look was spoiled by the smirk slowly breaking through the corner of her lips.

"Yes, yes," he said, his own hurt puppy look being ruined the same way, "Later, then."

Sayoko waved, not wanting to say anything else, for fear that she'd just keep him there for the rest of the night and while that wasn't bad for her, she really didn't want to push him too past the point of exhaustion. He could be hospitalized if that happened.

She took off as soon as the door to his dorm was closed, and suddenly, she exhaled a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he hadn't seen her blushing, or even heard the embarrassing thing she had said, so why was she still feeling so flustered?

He's a good man.

He liked her.

He had an amazing smile.

How had she been so blind?

With resolve, she made her way back to her place, hoping that the story she read tonight would keep her mind from going back into the gutter.

At least, for a little while.

. . . . . . .

Omake

Author's note: I apologize in advance for how this is written - It'll make sense. I hope.

It was a dark and stormy night. A peal of thunder rang out like a shot,. I spilled my whisky, surprised at the ungodly-loud sound.

Putting my flask back in the drawer in irritation, I resolved myself to going to the liquor store to pick up some more before the place closed. This damned curfew was playing hell with the medicine that so calms my nerves.

I rummaged into my pockets and "tch"ed in irritation. A gumshoe made good money when there were jobs, but this month had been a bit spare. True I helped that old lady with her cat, and helped that boy name his sleigh, but that was not enough to make the bills or my troubles go away.

Remembering the fiver I hid under my writing mat, I lifted up said mat, grabbed the cash and was about to get up from my seat when there was a knock on my door.

I might be in need of a drink, but sometimes, the growling belly demands that you hear the customer out.

"It's not locked," I said, stuffing the bill into my pocket in irritation. It had better not be that damned milkman again.

How many times had I told him that the brat was indeed his kid? So you now have to pay instead of getting paid? Too bad, buddy! If it meant that much to you, you shouldn't have been making your deliveries in the back door to get past her husband.

"Come in," I said, still feeling irritated at the aforementioned deliverer of dairy products for an outrageous fee, "its' not-"

"I know," the lady said, opening the door gingerly with a handkerchief, "It's not locked. I get it. But tell me sir, do you even bother to clean?"

"I'm a busy man," I shrugged, annoyed. I was still looking at my placemat, and hadn't looked up yet, because I was trying to keep from reaching for the now-empty whiskey bottle.

"You see, I have important business I must attend, so if you don't mind-"

And that's when I looked up.

A "looker" was not even _close_ to how this woman looked. She had an amazing head of hair, almost as dark as midnight, and two long pony tails that swayed as she sashayed into my office.

My mouth was dry. I couldn't speak. This dame oozed class from every pore; from her softly-shining velvet hair, to the black, slinky one-piece evening gown she revealed under her rather shapely raincoat once she took the raincoat off, down to the black as midnight dress shoes which no mortal in their right mind should be able to wear. They weren't called "stilettos" for nothing.

"So, how may I help you?" I managed after a moment. From the haughty smile on her face, she thought my astonishment amusing.

This broad was starting to get on my nerves. I was thinking of starting some of those calming exercises the Chinese guy down the hall kept doing every morning, but decided that, as soothing as they are, the potential paycheck would just up-and-leave and call me a nut job.

With a sigh, I entwined my fingers as I rested my elbows on my desk, in what I hoped was a look of rapt attention.

"So, what's a dame like you doing in a joint like this?" I asked inquisitively, "what does a broad like you need with a man like me?"

"I have heard of you from some 'friends' that you do good work, with very little prying questions asked." she said,, looking around. I motioned her to a seat, and she gingerly sat down, crossing her legs to show off a set of gams that would have put any other man but a professional such as I in a _very_ unprofessional state of mind.

"All true," I said, "But I will tell you that my services ain't cheap." She nodded in acceptance, and continued on.

"I don't have much time," she said, reaching between her breasts for a cigarette. She pulled it out, and I kindly offered to light it with my lighter. I made a mental note to add smokes to my list of appropriations when I finally ditched this dame.

She blew out the inhaled smoke in my face, and I savored the scent, knowing that soon, I would be able to partake in my vices soon enough. As it was, the smoke had me craving a drag from a fag in the worst way. I smiled and tried not to pay any attention to the sweat running down my face.

"I don't have much time," she repeated again, sitting straighter in her chair, which somehow made her bosom look more voluminous than it had been, "I need you to help me find a man."

But what she didn't know was she had already found the perfect man... for this job, that is. I could almost hear the cash register clinging in my skull as she said that.

"I see," I said, clearly not seeing it at all. She was dragging this conversation out, and I really needed that shot of whiskey something fierce.

"Well, could you help me to find him quickly?" she asked, puckering her lips together as if blowing me a kiss, "The sooner, the better... for your _bonus_, that is." and she gave me a wink.

Now, as a man, I am obligated to help this lady, but as a professional gumshoe, I needed to be paid fairly. As I nodded my agreement to her predicament, she took another drag from her cigarette, and then held it out with two fingers in a sophisticated, sassy way.

"It would be my honor," I said, "but again, I must tell you that I don't work for cheap. A buck-fifty a day, plus any expenses, and a twenty-dollar retainer fee up front."

The cigarette dropped from her astonished fingers.

"I'm afraid I can't compromise on this price," I said, forestalling her inquiry. She nodded and sighed, saying something about suckers under her breath. While it was true I was charging a hefty price, I was really laying myself thin by about fifty cents, simply due to the kindness of my heart.

"Well, then, I take it we have a deal?" She asked guardedly?

"Indeed, Madame," I said, almost kicking myself for referencing such an unspeakably low profession to such a dame, "And with business concluded, may I know your name?"

She waved her hand absently, "I'm afraid I must just be known to you at this time as "Mistress," She said, "because too many people already know my name, and of them, only a few now remain alive. And I need you alive."

"Fair enough" I said, "but let me introduce myself." I reached out my hand to the broad in a friendly, professional manner.

"Call me Lover." I said as she took my hand, "Dick Lover."

. . .

Peorth growled as she crumpled up the pages of neatly-typed text. Was Ichirou even _sane_? How in Heaven's - No - _ALMIGHTY'S_ name was this even _remotely_ related to a report?

"I'm going to kill him," she scowled, starting to rip the numerous pages as she repeatedly crushed then pulled the pieces together like a mad accordion player.

It didn't help that the report had been hand-written neatly, and needed to be transcribed and passed around the room as an actual report. She could feel her cheeks flushing as each of her subordinates would look at the report and then to her while alternating snickers, snorts, and guffaws.

"I'm really going to kill him," she said, throwing the remains of the report onto the floor in frustration. An intern came over with a freshly-printed report, and handed it to her.

Resigned she'd have to read more of this travesty, she flipped the page over. What she saw made her rip the page up and toss it in the air like confetti.

"ICHIROU!" she screamed as small pieces of paper landed on her like flakes of snow...


End file.
